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IF  EVER  I  envi.  i  i>  like  George  8.  Hillard,  of  Boston,  whose  six 

months  in  Italy  I  hav  id  i'nr  the  third  time,  and  \vli  iptitms  of 

the  scenery  and  the  habits  of  the  people  of  that  beautiful  country  recur  to  in.-  MS 
so  many  pictures  of  unrivaled  l"v -liness,  I  should  now  wish  to  be  clothed  with 
his  peculiar  ili.-ulti.-s.  OnU  ts  could  do  justice  to  my  exprrit -ju •••  of  the 

la.-t  two  weeks  in  T«-x.'i>      It'  it  is  true  that  one  likes  a  man  1  r  li  ••  ha- 

•  |n  arreled  with  and  been  reconciled  to  him,  then  the  recent  difl  n m  s  between 
the  sections  <•  i  the  Northern  visitor  to  the  South  unu-'i  .1  a«l\  mi 

There  is  an  evident  deposition  on  both  sides  to  please  and  to  be  pleas-  1.     \\ 
saw  human  nature  at  its  best,  and  the  favorable  impressions  left  upon  our  \> 
were  due  in  a  large  degree  to  the  courtesy  and  cordiality  with  which  we  were 
welcomed  by  those  who  were  accustomed  to  regard  the  most  of  us 

A8   THEIR    EN  KM  IBS. 

I  wrote  at  length  of  Shreveport  in  my  l.-tter  of  Tune  22,  (published  elsewhere 

in  this  pamphlet).     An  inner  view  has  given  me  a  more  favorable  idea  of  its 

lo  and  its  resources.     As  the  eastern  terminus  of  the  Texas  and  Pacific 

^vay,  with  prospective  connections  with  lines  looking  to  New  Orleans,  St. 

i,  Memphis,  and  Vi<-k>l»ur::.  it    is  one  of  the  must  important  of  all  the 

hwestern  cities,  certain  in  the  course  of  time  to  be  a  large  and  influential 

place.     Claiming  a  population  of  some  ton   th"iisnnd,  and  lately  declared  by 

Congress 

A    PORT    OF    ENTRY, 

it  is  a  larire  dt-pot  for  tho  transhipment  of  cotton.     In  1870,  111,688  bales  were 

it  Shreveport,  to  104.770'  biles  in  1871.    Nearly  all  of  this  vast  supply 

is  conveyed  by  ox-teams,  which  land  their  freight  at  Long  View,  on  the  Southern 

Railway,  66  miles  distant.      :Uf>.o:U    packages  of  merchandise   were 

*1  at  Shreveport  last  year  by  the  Red  river  boats,  and  were  sent  into 

total  value  of  its  exports  was  S7.2«>3.000,  the  sales  of  merchandise 

?  the  value  of  real  estate  $4,607,326.  It  has  insurance  companies, 


e 

gas  works,  passenger  railroads,  manufactories  of  ice,  breweries,  saw-mills,  etc. 
The  people  are  kind  and  hospitable,  the  leading  citizens 

INTELLIGENT    AND    PROGRESSIVE, 

the  schools  and  churches  creditable.  The  cost  of  living  is  high  when  we 
consider  how  easily  the  necessaries  of  life  can  be  procured.  Buildings  command 
in  some  cases  a  rental  of  $4,000  per  year  for  business  purposes.  There  are 
three  daily  newspapers,  two  of  them  Democratic  and  one  Conservative,  and  a 
weekly  Republican.  During  the  last  year  ninety-nine  new  dwelling  houses  were 
erected,  twenty  of  them  costing  from  five  to  ten  thousand  dollars  each.  The 
bulk  of  trade  is  by  the  Red  river.  In  1870  there  were  388  arrivals,  embracing 
a  tonnage  of  89,113  tons. 

EXCELLENT     STEAMBOATS 

run  between  New  Orleans  and  Shreveport,  and  between  St.  Louis,  Louisville, 
Cincinnati,  and  Shreveport,  and  freights  to  New  York,  Philadelphia,  Boston, 
Baltimore,  Pittsburg,  and  Louisville,  are  tributary  to  these  lines.  29,855  head 
of  cattle  and  3.690  sheep  were  shipped  from  Shreveport  during  the  last  year. 
The  style  of  living  is  comfortable  among  the  people,  and  in  many  respects  luxu- 
rious. The  entertainment  given  to  our  party  by  G-eorge  "Williamson,  Esq.,  was 
equal  to  any  at  the  best  housas  in  Philadelphia,  and  exceptional  in  all  the  fruits 
of  the  season,  including  rips  figs,  oranges,  melons,  and  bananas.  Here  we  saw 
for  the  first  time,  what  afterwards  became  quite  familiar  to  us,  a  series  of 

MOVING    FANS 

suspended  over  the  dinner  table,  kept  in  motion,  sometimes  by  the  hostess,  who 
sits  at  the  head  of  the  table,  but  more  frequently  by  a  servant  who  stands  at  her 
back,  thus  maintaining  a  pbasant  current  and  saving  the  guests  from  the  annoy- 
ance of  flics.  The  surroundings  of  Shreveport  are  beautiful,  and  many  of  the 
residences  finished  and  commodious. 

THE   COLORED    PEOPLE 

are  happy  and  comfortable,  hard  at  work,  contented  with  their  lot,  and  though 
all  Republicans,  kindly  tolerated  by  their  heretofore  white  superiors.  The  truth 
is,  whatever  may  be  said  to  the  contrary,  the  freedmen  are  rapidly  improving, 
and  are  assisted  by  the  benevolent  white  men 

A   STRIKING     SCENE 

took  place  just  before  we  reached  Shreveport,  when  the  Lotus  No.  3  hauled  up 
to  discharge  a  hrge  quantity  of  corn  for  the  use  of  the  hands  who  lived  on  the 
plantation  of  Colonel  Cummings,  a  wealthy  planter  before  the  war,  and  still  a 
man  of  substance,  who  wa$  among  the  passengers.  £he  colored  population 


rushed  forward  to  greet  him,  several  of  the  picanninies  were  stark-naked,  and 
they  were  only  made  conscious  of  their  condition  by  the  laughter  of  the 
passengers.  Colonel  Cummings  works  his  vast  estate  on  shares,  and  told  us  that 
most  of  his  people  were  doing  well,  and  comfortable.  Similar  cases  were 
mentioned,  all  going  to  pr<>v«-  that  thr>  n<  uroes  of  the  South  are  an  industrious 
and  improving  race.  We  left  Shreveport  early  next  morning,  for  Marshall, 
Texas,  some  fifty  miles  distant  by  the 

TEXAS    AND    PACJFir    RAILWAY, 

in  a  beautiful  new  car  constructed  at  the  company's  shops  at  Hallvillo  Tho 
road  was  in  rnpital  condition,  and  we  mado  the  trip  in  a  little  mmv  thnn  an 
lu»ur.  At  Marshall,  which  is  the  legal  initiativ.-  »t'  th«>  TVxas  an«l  IVn-ili.-  ' 
C"l'>nel  Scott  has  determined  to  establish  the  great  work-shops  of  the  e<>nij> any, 
•  ml  t  i  tint  purpose  has  secured  some  sixty  acres  of  la n«l  in  a  mntiiriums  body, 
and  a  donation  of  $300,000  from  the  county.  The  place  diffn-s  m'iivly  i\»m 
S!iny.|M,it  It  is  rather  a  collection  of  country  seats  than  a  town.  Almost 

v  house  is  surrounded  by  a  lot  adorned  with  trees  and  flowers.     Thr  streets 

1  and  spacious,  and  the  population  somewhat  exclusive.     The   public 

m<  M  are  known  for  their  talents  and  culture.     Marshall  is  the  county  seat  «»f 

II  irrison,  was  long  the  residence  of  the  celebrated   Louis   IV  \\Ufill,  r.nd  a 

-•ite  resort  of  the  lamented  Thomas  J.  Rusk  and  G«M!  m.  1  Houston, 

fin*  jurist,  Hon.  L.  D.  Evans,  Chief  Justice  of  Texas,  lives   at  Marshall. 
It  was  refreshing  to  find 

A    FIRST-CLASS   COUNTRY    BOARDING-FIOU8K 

in  rharpv  i.f  Mrs.  C.  B.  King,  who  welcomed  us  with  kind  hospitality  and  whose 
dinner  was  a  perfect  specimen  of  domestic  cookery,  not  less  agreeable  because 
served  in  real  Southern  style.     While  here  I  had  a  call  from  the  Rcpublk 
white  and   black — bright,  intelligent,  resolute   men.      They   also    interviewed 

:iel  Scott,  who  gave  them  a  kind  hearing  and  showed  a  deep  interest  in  their 
welfare.  Hero,  as  all  over  Texas,  we  were  met  with  the  usual  complaint  of  the 
scarcity  of  labor ;  and  when  it  was  announced  that  from  two  to  three  thousand 
mechanics  and  laborers  would  finally  mako  Marshall  their  head-quarters  when 
the  great  road  was  being  built  and  in  operation,  the  assurance  was  greeted  with 
great  enthusiasm.  Few  of  the  white  men  have  been  reared  to  hard  work. 

istomed  to  the  large  profits  resulting  from  the  growth  of  cotton  and  to  tho 
h-ibit  of  producing  nothing  else  and  buying  all  they  need,  it  will  be  something 
of  a  trial  for  them  to  emulate  to  the  healthy  practices  of  the  North ;  but  they 
seem  resolved  to  make  tho  effort  and  right  glad  that  this  opportunity  is  at  hand. 
A  body  of 

SKILLED    WORKMEN 

in  any  town  is  a  BQrt  of  college,  operating  as  an  example  to  idlers ;  and  thus  it 
may  be  that  in  the  course  of  a  few  years  the  youth  of  Marshall  will  imitate  the 


8 

successful  mechanics  of  the  North,  not  simply  in  the  character  of  their  work, 
but  in  physical  and  scientific  education.  The  population  of  Marshall  ranges 
from  3.000  to  5,000.  Its  lawyers  are  men  of  eminence,  and  it  boasts  one  Demo- 
cratic and  one  Radical  weekly  paper.  The  court-house,  a  fine  brick  building, 
is  situated  in  the  midst  of  a  public  square,  in  the  neighborhood  of  a  large  new 
hotel,  and  this  square  is  surrounded  by  stores  and  business  houses.  It  has  a 

FAIR    GROFND 

in  the  vicinity,  of  a  number  of  acres,  with  commodious  buildings  and  facilities 
for  showing  horses  and  agricultural  productions  to  advantage.  Fairs  are  among 
the  modern  indications  of  progress  that  have  become  numerous  since  the  war. 
Here,  and  at  nearly  every  point  of  our  journey,  we  met  mutilated  Confederate 
soldiers,  and  I  was  much  impressed  by  their  civil  manners.  The  vote  of  the 
county  is  2,770  colored  to  1.0-41  whites. 
One  part  of  our  programme  was  a 

JOURNEY    TO    JEFFERSON, 

some  sixteen  miles  distant,  overland,  where  Colonel  Scott  had  a  hearty  welcome. 
The  population  turned  out  en  masse  to  greet  him,  including  the  firemen  and 
bands  of  music  and  peals  of  artillery.  A  brilliant  ball  took  place  in  the  evening 
in  honor  of  his  arrival,  which  he  and  his  friends  attended.  Jefferson  is  the 
county  seat  of  Marion,  has  a  population  of  probably  twelve  thousand,  and  a 
rapidly  increasing  trade.  The  vote  stands  7-iO  whites  to  1.3G1  colored.  It 
sends  to  New  Orleans  100.000  bales  of  cotton  annually,  besides  beef,  tallow, 
wool,  etc..  and  needs  railroads,  not  simply  to  increase  its  commerce,  but  to  bring 
in  emigration.  Now  its  only  outlet  is  by  the  Cypress  bayou,  which  connects  it 
with  the  Red  river  by  second-class  steamers  for  a  portion  of  the  year,  while  all 
its  cotton  must  be 

HAULED   IN    BY    OX-TEAMS. 

Jefferson  is  directly  on  the  main  line  of  the  Texas  and  Pacific,  and  connects 
Marshall  with  the  Trans-continental  and  the  eastern  terminus  at  Texarkana, 
When  this  is  built,  as  it  will  be  within  the  next  fourteen  months,  the  vast  pro- 
ducts of  the  interior  will  be  brought  in  and  sent  forth  in  incalculable  profusion. 

THE    CLIMATE 

of  this  part  of  Northern  Texas  is  delightful.  In  summer  the  heat  rarely  reaches 
80  degrees,  and  it  is  hardly  cold  enough  in  winter  for  snow.  The  bottom  lands 
produce  about  a  bale  of  cotton,  or  forty  bushels  of  corn  to  the  acre.  They  are 
well  supplied  with  timber — pine,  cypress,  walnut,  oak,  and  ash.  We  saw  Kelley's 
iron  works,  seven  miles  from  Jefferson,  and  found  him  manufacturing  superior 
hollow-ware — his  cooking  stoves  equal  to  any  of  our  best  in  Philadelphia.  The 
iron  deposits  on  his  property  are  inexhaustible,  and  the  quality  of  the  ore  superior. 
3ir.  Kelley  started  on  small  means,  but  has  pushed  himself  into  quite  a  business. 


In  addition  to  iron,  lead,  and  copper,  we  found  here  several  mineral  springs. 
Schools  are  good,  churches  numerous,  the  society  excellent.  Colonel  Scott  pre- 
sented his  proposition  to  the  people,  and  met  a  cordial  and  Hearty  response. 
Here  again  I  met  my  Republican  friends,  and  found  them  satisfied  with  their 
condition.  I  also  met  the  Republican  editor  and  the  leading  Democratic  editor, 
and  had  a  pleasant  interview  with  both.  The  committee  sent  from  Jefferson 
to  Shreveport  to  meet  Colonel  Scott,  headed  by  Judge  Macadoo,  including 
Captain  B.  F.  Graflon,  Colonel  Clay  Hynson,  Mayor  Craig,  and  others,  would 
have  done  credit  to  the  corporate  authorities  of  Boston.  Jefferson  deserves  to 
be  called 

THE    PIKE  NIX    CITY. 

It  has  several  times  been  destroyed  by  fire,  and  has  arisen  from  its  ashes,  not 
in  frame,  but  in  stone  and  ir«m.  There  is  considerable  rivalry  between  Jefferson 
and  Shreveport,  but  as  Texas  holds  out  both  hands  full  to  her  children,  there  is 
plenty  for  all.  I  do  not  know  a  more  thriving  town  in  Pennsylvania,  not  even 
in  the  oil  regions,  than  Jefferson.  One  carious  feature  about  these  Texas  towns 
is  the  luxurious  habits  of  the  population— especially  of  those  in  trade.  You 
liii-1  the  best  wines  in  their  stores,  every  variety  of  canned  fruit,  and  ice,  either 
c:ini.,l  dir.-et  from  Boston  or  made  on  the  ground,  as  at  Shreveport;  and  it  is 
not  difficult  to  trace  the  source  of  these  habits  to  the  monopoly  of  the  growth 
of  cotton  in  the  long  years  past,  and  to  the  dependence  upon  that  product  alone. 
Now, 

WITH   DIVERSIFIED   INDUSTRY, 

and  an  equally  diversified  agriculture — all  of  them  rendered  necessary  by  the 
iiitn>«liu>tiou  of  new  vitalities  and  the  increase  of  railroads — cotton  will  no  longer 
dominate. 

We  returned  to  Marshall  in  the  evening,  and  Colonel  Scott  closed  his  negoti- 
ation with  the  authorities  there.  The  next  morning  we  took  the  train  f,,r 
Hullville,  in  company  with  Colonel  Volney  Hall,  late  vice  president  of  the 
Southern  Pacific,  to  whom  we  have  been  greatly  indebted  for  constant  kind- 
ness and  courtesy.  He  accompanied  us  through  Texas  on  the  stage  line,  and 
seemed  to  be  a  great  favorite  with  the  people,  among  whom  he  had  many 
acquaintances. 

COLONEL   BCOTT 

took  a  rapid  survey  of  the  shops  at  Hallville,  and  gave  orders  for  their  removal 
to  Marshall,  after  which  we  enjoyed  an  appetizing  breakfast  at  the  residence  of 
Mr.  Dickson,  superintendent  of  the  line,  not  less  agreeable  from  the  presence  of 
his  accomplished  lady.  The  bounty  of  Providence,  poured  down  in  such 
profusion  upon  Texas,  is  not  always  accompanied  by  good  cooks,  so  that  an 
exceptional  meal  gracefully  served  comes  in  to 

LEAVEN   DISSATISFACTION. 

Ten  miles  more  carried  us  to  Long  View,  the  end  of  our  sixty-six  miles  by  rail. 
Now  we  are  two  hundred  miles  from  Fort  Worth,  the  terminus  of  the  upper 
* 


10 

branch  of  the  Southern  Pacific  Railroad.  Now  we  leave  the  rail  for  the  common 
road ;  the  locomotive  and  the  steamboat  for  the  stage ;  five  hundred  miles  a  day 
for  forty.  The  change  is  great,  the  way  before  us  rough,  but  new  scenes  will 
compensate  for  tedious  progress  and  hard  staging. 

GENERAL  DODGE, 

our  keen  and  experienced  engineer,  with  his  two  assistants,  takes  the  lead.  We 
follow,  six  in  a  stage-coach  drawn  by  four  horses,  and  three  of  us,  Colonel  Scott, 
Mr.  Walters,  and  myself,  in  a  light  Texas  .ragon  drawn  by  a  pair  of  ugly,  yet,  as 
the  result  proved,  sure-footed  mules.  Many  horsemen  "  lope"  by  us  in  the  Texas 
uniform,  every  one  mounted  on  the  Spanish  or  Mexican  saddle,  with  a  pommel 
on  which  to  rest  the  hands  and  to  fasten  the  lasso  when  in  pursuit  of  wild  cattle 
or  horses.  It  was  Sunday  as  we  took  the  road,  and  many  of  both  classes,  chiefly, 
however,  of  the  colored  people,  rode  by  on  their  way  to  worship.  We  drove  a 
long  distance  through  splendid  groves  of  hickory,  pine,  post  oak,  and  bois  d'arc, 
giving  promise  of  abundant  supplies  for  the  railroad,  especially  for  bridges  and 
ties  and  houses.  There  was  a  wondrous  variety  of  tropical  foliage.  Now  and 
then  we  passed 

A   LOG   CABIN, 

sometimes  without  shutters  to  the  windows,  and  almost  always  without  glass. 
Occasionally  a  fine  plantation  would  look  out  upon  us  with  a  friendly  glance, 
with  a  cotton  planter  on  the  porch  surrounded  by  his  neighbors,  and  when  we 
stopped  to  water  the  greeting  was  cordial,  and  the  inquiries  many.  They  seemed 
to  know  that  "  Colonel  Scott  was  coming,"  and  were  all  glad  he  had  taken  the 
enterprise  in  hand.  We  followed  the  line  of  the  road  closely — so  closely,  indeed, 
as  to  be  directly  upon  it  frequently.  Inconceivably  lovely  is  the  country  it 
enters.  On  all  sides  were  fields  of  dark-green  corn,  cotton  growing  rapidly  into 
blossom,  wheat  and  oats  harvested  and  ready  for  the  sickle;  and  fruits  of  all 
kinds  were  abundant.  It  was  a  rare  treat  for  us  to  pause,  after  pulling 
through  the  deep  sand  and  heavy  mire  of  the  forest,  and  drink  in  the  magnificent 
prospect. 

Our  progress  began  with  Harrison  county,  of  which  Marshall  is  the  county 
seat,  extending  into  Smith,  Upshur,  Yanzant,  Dallas,  and  Tarrant.  Along  the 
whole  route  uncultivated  lands  can  be  purchased  for  two  dollars,  and  the  best  for 

EIGHT   DOLLARS    AN   ACRE. 

Much  of  our  ride  was  toilsome.  We  had  heavy  work  to  get  over  deep  morasses, 
iand  sometimes  had  to  tear  through  the  roughest  roads.  Frequently  we  had 
to  go  a  long  distance  for  water;  but  had  we  known  how  you  in  the  East  were 
suffering  from  sunstrokes — the  molten  sun  pouring  down  on  your  devoted  heads, 
in  such  cities  as  Washington,  New  York,  and  Philadelphia — we  had  not  longed 
for  home.  We  suffered  little  or  nothing  from  the  Southern  sun ;  and  when,  at 
the  end  of  our  first  day,  we  entered  Tyler,  we  were  hungry  enough  to  enjoy 


11 

the  direst  fare,  and  tired  e"nough  to  sleep  on  the  hardest  floor  and  to  bid 
defiance  to  the  mosquitoes,  which,  however,  visited  us  but  rarely.  Tyler  is  the 
couuty  seat  of  Smith,  with  a  thriving  population  looking  forward  to  the  compb- 
tion  of  our  railroad,  which  passes  through  its  northern  townships.  The  whites 
are  in  the  majority.  People  have  to 

Wvr.ON    THEIR    CROPS 

fifty  to  a  hundred  miles  to  the  nearest  depot,  at  Long  View.  Fine  farms  can  be 
bought  hero  for  three  dollars  an  acre.  Timber  can  be  purchased  at  the  saw-mills 
ii.r  fifteen  dollars  per  thousand  i'.-et,  but  th-»  c  >st  of  transporting  it  to  the  rail- 
road is  so  great  that  it  sells  at  from  fifty  tj  sixty  dollars  a  thousand  at  the  depot. 
Wlu-n  the  railroads  are  finished  luuibcr  can  bo  had  as  cheaply  in  Texas  as  in 
almost  any  of  the  Northern  States  It  is  only  necessary  to  remember  the  enor- 
mous cost  of  transporting  the  cotton,  corn,  lumber,  and  other  materials,  to  sets 

ying  necessity  for  railroads. 

After  a  sound  sleep  Colonel  Scott  roused  us  at  dawn,  and,  at  the  end  of  a 
pleasant  ride  of  twelve  miles,  we  entered  one  of  the  sweetest  of  villages,  named 

MOUNT   SYLVAN, 

where  a  luxurious  breakfast  was  spread  in  a  little  house,  presided  over  by 
Mrs.  Dollahite.  No  catfish  and  waffles  at  the  Falls  of  Schuylkill,  near  Philadel- 
phia, could  have  boon  more  delightful — nay,  not  even  the  luscious  repast  of  Taft, 
near  Boston, nor  yet  the  far-famed  feasts  at  the  High  Bridge  in  N  \v  York,  could 
have  been  more  toothsome.  We  were  now  on  the  Memphis  and  El  Paso 
stage  liii  he  chargo  of  Major  Wright,  chief  manager,  whoso  efforts  to 

contribute  to  our  comfort  we  shall  always  gratefully  remember.  It  was  inter- 
esting to  watch  his  attention  to  his  horses  and  his  guests,  especially  when  we  re- 
member that  this  line  traverses  over  seven  hundred  miles  through  varieties  of 
climate  and  peoples.  Now  that  the  old  stage-coach  days  have  passed  away  in  the 
I  like  to  sit  and  study  the  institution  on  the  groat  frontiers  of  the  South- 
west, and  to  listen  to  tho  quiet  humor  of  the  driver,  the  quaint  expressions  of  the 
passengers,  and  the  numerous  incidents  common  to  such  a  life.  We  reached  the 
county  town  of  Vanzant,  Canton,  late  in  the  evening,  grateful  that  we  had 
escaped  with  whole  bones,  for  our  equanimity  was  sjrjly  tried  during  the  mem- 
orable experience.  Vanzant  is  called  in  djrlsiou  the 

FREE   STATE   OP   VANZANT, 

because  of  its  hard  fares  and  harder  thoroughfares,  but,  notwithstanding  bad 
roads,  the  fields  around  us  were  bright  with  cotton  and  corn,  the  people  happy, 
and  everybody  full  of  expectation  about  the  railroad  Cultivated  lands  in  Van- 
zant are  worth  four  dollars  an  acre,  and  unimproved  one  dollar.  Provisions — all 
the  farmer  wants — can  be  had  at  very  low  rates.  Little  or  no  feed  for  the  stock 
is  needed  in  winter.  One  man  can  easily  clear  from  three  to  five  hundred  dollars 


12 

a  year  by  farming,  with  nothing  but  his  own  hands.  The  vote  here  is  748  white 
to  148  colored.  Our  landlady  at  Canton,  Mrs.  Young,  was  a  young  woman  from 
Indiana,  blessed  with  a  husband  who  came  from  near  Fairniount,  Philadelphia. 
She  had  certainly  bloomed  into  a  thoroughbred 

TEXAN    MATRON. 

We.  had  now  accomplished  some  eight"  miles,  and  next  morning  at  daybreak 
started  for  Kaufman,  one  of  the  most  fertile  counties  in  Texas,  called  after  David 
S.  Kaufman,  of  Cumberland  county,  Pennsylvania.  The  soil  was  -a  black  sandy 
loam,  immensely  productive.  It  averages  from  twelve  to  fifteen  hundred  pounds 
of  seed  cotton,  from  twenty-five  to  forty  bushels  of  corn,  fifteen  bushels  of  wheat, 
twenty  to  twenty-five  bushels  of  rye,  and  from  forty  to  sixty  bushels  of  oats  to 
the  acre.  The  best  of  these  lands  could  be  bought  at  from  fifty  cents  to  one 
dollar  and  a  half  an  acre  before  the  war ;  now  they  average  from  three  to  twelve 
dollars.  Corn  sells  at  $1  per  bushel,  wheat  SI. 50,  oats  75  cents,  rye  75  cents. 
The  average  price  of  labor  here,  as  in  all  the  counties  along  the  line  of  our  road, 
is  twenty  dollars  per  month  in  specie  and  found.  Here  let  me  remark  upon  the 
damaging  effects  of  hard  money  currency  in  Texas.  After  leaving  Shreveport 
the  first  question  put  to  me  was, 

"HATE  YOU  ANY  SILVER?" 

Answering  in  the  negative,  I  was  admonished  that  it  was  necessary  to  provide 
myself  with  coin.  Of  course,  labor  is  plundered  all  the  time.  While  you  buy 
this  coin  at  ten  per  cent.,  what  you  purchase  is  generally  twenty  per  cent,  in 
advance  of  that  which  you  can  procure  elsewhere ;  or,  in  other  words,  if  you  buy 
in  greenbacks  they  deduct  twenty  per  cent.  The  vote  stands  873  white  to  191 
colored. 

After  pulling  through  some  twenty  miles  of  sand  and  morass,  we  gradually 
ascended  the  plateau  and  for  the  first  time  met 

A   TEXAS   PRAIRIE. 

I  wish  I  could  fitly  describe  the  scene  and  its  effect  upon  my  companions.  Ad 
I  have  since  noted  by  the  Philadelphia  and  Xew  York  papers,  you  were  then 
smitten  down  in  the  streets,  or  driven  into  your  homes,  by  the  dreadful  heat,  yet 
here,  twenty-five  hundred  miles  from  Philadelphia,  in  the  extreme  Southwest, 
we  rested  our  horses  and  mules  upon  an  elevation  which  commanded  a  pros- 
pect unspeakably  glorious.  Far  as  the  eye  could  reach  there  was  nothing  but 
living  green  interspersed  with  groves.  Herds  of 

CATTLE,   OXEN,   AND   HORSES, 

were  browsing  on  the  rich  pasturage,  their  flowing  manes  and  tails  waving  in 
the  free  air.  I  felt  as  I  have  often  felt,  after  leaving  Philadelphia  on  .Saturday 


13 

afternoon  for  the  healthy  bivarh  .it1  old  ocean  at  Cape  May,  Atlantic  City,  or 
Long  Branch.  We  literally  bathed  in  the  wholesome  atmosphere.  A  striking 
contrast  was  presented  between  our  trying  rides  over  rough  roads  and  the 
heavenly  zephyrs  that  coursed  around  us  on  this  peerless  prairie.  Not  the  level 
and  carefully  macadamized  paths  of  Fairinount  Park  at  Philadelphia,  the  Druid 
Hill  Park  at  Baltimore,  nor  the  Central  Park,  N'«-w  York,  surpass  these  natural 
boulevards.  Differing  from  the  Western  prairi.-s  in  the  fact  that  they  are  still 
undisturbed  by  population,  save  where  here  and  there  some 


ENTERPRISING   SETTLER 

has  already  built  his  home,  as  if  to  wait  for  incoming  population,  you  ride  on 
and  encounter  an  occasional  grove  of  well-watered  timber.  In  the  distance  there 
is  an  abundance  of  the  famous  Cross  Timbers,  which,  beginning  at  the  north, 
run  through  this  great  empire  in  vast  broad  belts.  Here,  as  well  as  afterward.-*. 
when  we  coursed  over  the  prairies  leading  into  Kaufman,  between  Kaufman  and 
Dallas,  and  between  Dallas  and  Fort  Worth,  I  felt  that  Texas  was,  above  all,  the 
home  of  the  white  man. 

There  is  a  theory  that  in  the  other  Gulf  States,  lassitude,  enervation,  and  in- 
difference to  toil,  are  so  many  results  of  the  intense  heat,  and  that  no  white  man 
can  perform  the  labor  essential  to  the  development  of  that  section ;  and  I  met  a 
gentleman  in  New  Orleans  who  predicated  on  this  theory  the  dogma  that  gradu- 
ally the  whole  of  these  States  would  be  absorbed  by  the  African  race.  But  here, 
in  Texas,  with  its  healthy  solitudes,  its  broad,  life-giving  prairies,  its  diversity  of 
el i mate  and  productions,  its  wheat  and  cotton,  its  sugar  and  its  corn,  its  coal  and 
its  iron,  tobacco,  and  every  variety  of  vegetable,  we  have  the  assurance  of  a 
future  which  should  invite  to  its  alluvial  soil  millions  of  the  multitudes  of  the 
earth.  This,  indeed,  is 

THE   COUNTRY   OP   THE   WHITE   MAN. 

Our  driver,  an  enthusiastic  Confederate,  polite  yet  somewhat  scornful  of 
Yankees,  seemed  glad  to  see  us,  and  told  us  after  our  raptures  over  the  first 
prairies,  that  he  had  a  place  to  show  us  that  he  regarded  as  God's  own  land. 
He  pointed  with  his  whip,  saying,  "  That  is  it,"  as  we  entered  Seyene,  and  it 
was  a  picture  indeed  worthy  the  pencil  of  a  Claude  or  a  Salvator  Rosa ;  and  yet, 
like  all  these  magnificent  stretches,  waiting  for  the  foot  of  progress  and  the  hand 
of  labor.  Many  other  spots,  not  less  sweet  and  inviting,  greeted  us,  like  "  Garden 
Valley,"  a  cluster  of  lovely  hill  and  prairie,  where  we  gathered  some  delicious 
plums  as  we  watered  our  horses  in  the  groves. 

At  last  we  drove  into  Kaufman's,  and  had  a  hearty  welcome  and  a  sound  sleep, 
though  our  landlady,  Mrs.  Gibbs,  thought  that  instead  of  thirty-five  miles  to 
Dallas,  we  should  prepare  ourselves  for  a  good  round  forty. 

Early  next  morning,  called  up  as  usual  by  the  chanticleer  voice  of  Colonel 
Scott,  we  had  another  prairie  ride  into  Dallas,  one  of  the  chief  points  of  the 


-14 

Texas  and  Pacific  line,  where  we  found  our  friends  in  waiting,  and  were  regaled 
in  the  evening  by  a  serenade  and  a  pleasant  interchange  of  compliments. 

FROM  SHREVEPORT  TO  DALLAS. 

If  a  Pennsylvania  farmer,  anxious  to  select  the  best  location  for  his  sons,  had 
gone  forth  to  Texas  to  lay  down  the  line  of  the  Texas  and  Pacific  Railway,  he 
could  not  have  chosen  a  more  delightful  section  than  that  traversed  by  Colonel 
Scott  and  his  companions,  between  Shreveport,  Louisiana,  and  this  very  town  of 
Dallas.  It  is  the  seat  of  the  county  called  after  our  Pennsylvania  Vice  Presi- 
dent, and  like  most  of  these  Texas  towns,  has  a  good  deal  of  the  cosmopolitan 
character.  You  meet  people  from  all  countries  and  from  all  the  States — the 
German,  Scotchman,  Frenchman,  and  I  talked  with  many  Pennsylvanians.  We 
met  the  editor  of  the  Herald,  Mr.  Josselyn,  who,  although  a  stalwart  Democrat, 
I  suspect  will  never  support  Greeley,  and  Judge  Hart,  of  the  District  Court, 
who  was  born  at  Marietta,  Ohio,  and  at  fifteen  years  old  helped  to  pull  and  pole 
a  boat  along  the  Ohio  to  the  Red  river,  a  distance  of  more  than  a  thousand  miles, 
with  his  mother,  brothers,  and  sisters  on  board,  his  journey  consuming  over  four 
months  of  time.  He,  unlike  Josselyn,  is  a  Radical,  and  is  as  much  respected  as 
if  he  belonged  to  the  dominant  party.  Dallas  votes  1,242  whites  to  424  colored. 

The  Crutchfield  House,  at  Dallas,  is  a  good  hotel,  and  would  be  much  better 
if  the  proprietor  can  induce  the  authorities  to  remove  the  offensive  "  range" 
along  the  Trinity,  which  is  not  only  a  disgrace  to  the  town  itself,  but  will  most 
certainly  breed  a  pestilence  unless  it  is  incontinently  removed. 

Colonel  Scott  made  his  arrangements  with  the  people  of  Dallas.  His  propo- 
sition was  accepted  by  the  authorities.  8100,000  was  voted  to  the  railroad,  with 
land  for  the  depot,  and  right  of  way  through  the  town ;  and  their  action  has 
since  been  ratified  without  a  dissenting  voice  by  the  people.  Here  we  met  Gov- 
ernor Throckmorton,  and  enjoyed  his  society  as  far  as  Fort  Worth  in  a  prairie 
ride  of  indescribable  interest. 

FORT    WORTH. 

But  who  can  do  justice  to  Fort  Worth,  where  the  two  branches,  the  Trans- 
continental and  the  Southern  Pacific  road  unite,  and  form  one  line,  the  Texas 
and  Pacific,  stretching  thence  to  El  Paso,  and  afterwards  through  tho  Territories 
of  New  Mexico  and  Arizona,  thence  to  California  and  the  harbor  of  San  Diego  ? 
I  know  of  no  panorama  equal  to  it.  Fort  Worth  was  originally  constructed  by 
Major  General  Worth,  and  was  for  a  long  time  the  extreme  frontier  settlement 
in  the  State  of  Texas.  It  was  erected  for  the  purpose  of  protecting  the  citizens 
of  that  section  from  the  depredations  of  the  Indians.  They  have  not  ventured 
near  the  town  for  the  last  ten  or  fifteen  years.  The  Government  forts  and  forces 
have  been  removed  to  the  frontiers  beyond,  while  civilization  holds  the  bound- 
aries it  has  conquered.  We  met  many  of  the  first  settlers  in  this  splendid  region, 
and  could  easily  imagine  how  the  red  men  fought  to  hold  it  against  the  whites. 

The  fort  has  been  entirely  dismantled  and  converted  into  a  comfortable  dwell- 


15 

ing-house.  The  town  of  Fort  Worth  contains  some  twelve  or  fifteen  hundred 
inhabitants,  several  churches,  good  schools,  and  a  large  court-house,  in  the  centre 
of  the  plaza,  constructed  of  yellowish  limestone,  resembling  Joliet  marble.  It 
remains  in  an  unfinished  condition.  Fort  Worth  is  beautifully  situated  on  a 
broad  plateau.  Immediately  on  its  northern  and  western  borders  are  the  waters 
of  the  Clear  Fork  and  West  Fork  rivers,  which  here  unite  and  form  the  Trinity. 
The  banks  are  steep  and  precipitous,  one  hundred  and  ten  feet  in  height,  covered 
with  luxuriant  foliage. 

The  prospect  from  this  plateau  is  grand  beyond  description,  decidedly  the  finest 
we  enjoyed  during  our  visit  to  Texas — especially  in  the  western  direction  and 
the  course  pursued  by  the  Texas  and  Pacific  Railroad.  For  fifty  miles  away  there 
lay  stn-teh.-d  before  us  a  succession  of  cultivated  lands,  interspersed  with  belts 
of  timber,  wide  expanses  of  prairie  lands  with  the  natural  grass,  and  in  the  dim 
horizon,  so  far  off  as  scarcely  to  be  distinguished  from  the  clouds  themselv. •-.  a 
succession  of  lofty  mountains.  The  hotel  accommodations  at  Fort  Worth  need 
•  greatly  enlarged,  but  there  are  comfortable  private  dwellings,  and  the  citi- 
zens are  kind,  courteous,  and  hospitable.  The  breezes  at  this  elevation  far  sur- 
pass anything  we  experienced. 

Fort  Worth  is  a  city  set  upon  a  hill,  and  as  the  point  of  junction  bctuvm  the 
two  bmtohesoi  the  Texas  and  Pacific,  is  particularly  enviable,  inasmuch  as  lY«im 
thid  locality  the  Grand  Trunk  line  to  the  Pacific  will  be  projected  and  pushed. 
Lands  in  the  vicinity  of  Fort  Worth  have  h ••••n  v.-Hin^  at  exceedin-jly  l«»w  ]>t 
but  th>-y  will  be  greatly  enhanced  on  account  of  its  proposed  railroad  facilities. 
During  the  last  year  500,000  head  of  cattle  were  driven  throu  Worth  on 

their  way  to  Missouri  and  Kansas,  and  as  wo  left  the  town  wo  met  a  single 

eullUlillili. 

TEXAS  TRIES   AND   FLOWERS. 

It  would  require  the  pen  of  an  experienced  and  practical  botanist  to  describe 
the  numerous  varieties  of  trees,  plants,  shrubbery,  and  flowers  peculiar  to  this 
section,  and  to  mark  the  different  species  as  we  gradually  approach  the  tropics. 
I  mentioned  in  one  of  my  former  letters  that  as  we  entered  New  Orleans  we 
foam!  the  jassauiine,  the  oleander,  the  palmcda,  the  sago  palm,  the  banana,  the 
orange  and  lemon,  the  fig,  the  pomegranate,  the  wild  plum,  and  the  plantain ; 
the  crape  myrtle  was  of  frequent  occurrence  wherever  -any  attempt  was  made 
at  cultivation. 

In  the  swamps  and  morasses  the  palms  grew  most  luxuriantly,  while  clusters 
of  waxen  pond  lilies  floated  gracefully  on  the  surface.  The  trumpet  flower,  or 
American  creeper,  clung  to  hundreds  of  trees,  and  the  blossoms  attained  a  far 
richer  depth  of  color  than  in  our  Northern  climate.  Our  ride  on  the  Mississippi 
afforded  a  magnificent  sight.  We  noticed  hedges  eight  or  ten  feet  high,  and  of 
dense  foliage,  composed  entirely  of  wnat  they  call  the  Cherokee  rose — resembling 
the  white  tea  rose — perfectly  hardy,  and  a  perennial  bloomer.  The  magnolia 
grandiflora  tree  grows  very  large,  and  as  we  passed  along  its  blossoms  emitted  a 


10 

delicious  perfume;  and  noble  lawns  fronting  the  levees,  and  connected  with  grand 
old  plantations,  were  adorned  with  clusters  of  crape  myrtle,  oleanders,  magnolias, 
and  jessamine,  and  orange  and  fig  trees  in  endless  profusion. 

The  variety  known  as  the  Fly  Celestia  is  just  now  in  season.  It  requires  a 
cultivated  taste  to  appreciate  the  fig.  It  is  considered  a  great  luxury  by  the 
Southerners,  but  to  a  stranger  at  first  seems  insipid.  When  the  outer  coating  is 
removed,  however,  and  it  is  served  with  sugar  and  cream,  the  flavor  is  greatly 
improved,  and  after  one  or  two  trials,  and  just  as  we  were  bidding  farewell  to 
Louisiana,  we  found  ourselves  readily  acquiring  a  fondness  for  it. 

The  oleander  flourishes  in  extraordinary  luxuriance  in  the  city  of  Galveston.  It 
borders  the  sidewalks,  and  thousands  of  blossoms  of  the  double-pink  variety  are 
to  be  seen  on  a  single  tree.  The  white  species  is  also  a  favorite  in  this  locality. 

The  rose  tree  and  the  Cape  jessamine  are  peculiarly  adapted  to  this  sandy 
soil,  and  a  bouquet  can  be  gathered  in  the  open  air  at  almost  any  period  of  the 
year.  The  China  tree,  or  Pride  of  the  South,  is  a  great  favorite  in  this  locality. 
It  is  of  a  dwarfed  and  bushy  growth,  blooms  early  in  the  season,  and  is  just  now 
loaded  with  seed  pods.  On  the  prairies  we  noticed  the  musquite  tree.  Its 
foliage  is  light  green  and  feathery.  It  bears  a  bean  pod,  which  is  said  to  form 
an  excellent  substitute  for  bread,  and  is  relished  by  both  man  and  beast.  The 
mustang  grape  flourishes  luxuriantly  in  the  swamps  and  lowlands,  and  we  noticed 
many  large  clusters  of  unripe  fruit.  The  prickly  pear,  a  variety  of  cactus,  is 
found  in  abundance,  and  hundreds  of  varieties  of  flowers  are  to  be  seen  on  every 
hand.  Among  these,  I  may  mention  white  and  crimson  poppies;  a  magenta- 
colored  thistle  of  rare  beauty  and  endless  profusion;  a  new  variety  of  the  lupin, 
of  flesh  color,  tinted  with  scarlet,  delicate  white  blossoms  of  various  kinds, 
yellow  and  pink  star  flowers,  great  clusters  of  the  blue  verbena,  petunias  of  many 
colors,  the  coreopsis,  portulacca,  blue  lilies  with  brown  and  golden  centres,  the 
standing  cypress  plant  with  great  spikes  of  scarlet-colored  blossoms,  the  passion 
vine  covered  with  bloom,  daisies,  marguerites,  and  asters,  and  many  other 
specimens  of  floriculture  with  which  I  was  not  familiar. 

Delighted  as  we  were  with  the  glorious  wealth  of  flowers,  we  were  informed 
that  it  was  too  late  in  the  season  to  see  them  in  perfection.  During  the  latter 
part  of  May.  and  from  that  time  to  the  middle  of  June,  it  is  said  the  prairie 
presents  the  appearance  of  a  vast  flower  garden.  Most  of  these  plants  seed  pro- 
fusely and  annually  multiply  themselves  almost  indefinitely,  while  others  are 
perennial  in  their  habit.  The  Commissioner  of  Agriculture  at  Washington  could 
do  nothing  better  than  to  send  agents  to  the  Texas  prairie  to  gather  seeds  and 
plants,  instead  of  importing  them  from  abroad. 

The  variety  is  quite  as  extensive  as  those  we  now  secure  from  the  foreign 
markets,  and  there  is  no  doubt  the  most  of  them  would  readily  adapt  them- 
selves to  the  latitude  of  the  middle,  Western,  and  Northern  States. 

FAREWELL   TO   DALLAS. 

On  the  morning  of  Saturday,  the  29th  of  June,  we  bade  farewell  to  Dallas, 


17 

and,  after  a  charming  ride  of  seven  miles  across  the  prairies,  arrived  at  Trinity 
Bridge,  the  terminus  at  that  time  of  the  Texas  Central  Railroad,  but  it  is 
expected  that  in  a  few  weeks  the  iron-horse  will  force  his  way  to  the  enterprising 
city  we  had  just  left.  It  was  a  refreshing  sensation  to  see  a  railroad  once  more, 
and,  although  we  were  ahead  of  time  and  the  train  had  not  yet  arrived,  we  felt 
that  we  would  soon  be  whirling  our  return  to  Philadelphia.  In  a  few  minutes  a 
hand  car  made  its  appearance,  propelled  by  colored  convicts  from  the  State  IVni- 
tentiary  at  Austin.  Some  fifteen  or  twenty  stalwart  negroes  were  engaged  on 
the  road  at  this  point,  carefully  guarded  by  two  white  men  with  loaded  rifles, 
and  they  appeared  to  be  perfectly  happy  and  contented — doubtless  preferring 
exercise  in  the  open  air  to  the  atmosphere  of  a  Southern  prison.  I  understand 
it  is  quite  the  custom  in  the  Southwestern  section  to  employ  convicts  on  public 
thoroughfares.  The  State  receives  so  much  per  day  for  the  labor  of  these 
victs,  and  they  in  turn  reduce  their  term  of  imprisonment  if  they  behave  them- 
selves properly. 

At  half-past  12  o'clock  the  train  arrived,  and  we  soon  shipped  our  mini' -mus 
packages  and  were  traveling  rapidly  onward  to  Corsicana,  >.»mr  titty-live  mil  ^ 
from  Trinity  Bridge.  Our  path  still  lay  through  the  prairies,  but  civili/atimi 
followed  the  iron  rail,  and  settlements  were  started  at  many  points  along  the  lino. 
Emigrant  wagons,  drawn  by  five  or  six  yoke  of  oxen,  were  often  seen,  and 
hero  for  the  first  time  we  saw  the  cotton  plant  in  full  bloom.  Encampment* 
were  noticeable,  and  rude  frame  tenements  offered  entertainment  for  w.-ary 
travelers.  Many  cattle  were  feeding  on  the  prairies,  and  they  scamper,  d 
when  warned  by  the  fierce  shriek  of  the  locomotive — a  sound  to  whieh  they  had 
evidently  not  yet  become  accustomed. 

Steaming  along  at  a  very  rapid  rate  late  in  the  afternoon,  the  check  string  was 
pulled  suddenly,  the  train  stopped,  and  looking  from  the  rear  of  our  car  some  one 
exclaimed,  "  Here  is  a  case."  The  passengers  alighted,  and  after  going  up  tho 
track  for  a  hundred  feet  we  saw  a  man  lying  with  his  head  resting  against  the  iron 
rail.  To  all  appearances  we  had  crushed  him.  But  waking  him  from  a  sound 
sleep,  he  raised  himself,  and,  leaning  upon  his  one  arm — the  other  having  \«n^ 
since  been  amputated — he  exclaimed :  "  Go  on  with  your  train,  it  is  none  of 
your  business/'  He  had  lain  down  between  the  cross-ties,  and  was  pcrfertly 
unconscious  of  the  narrow  escape  he  had  made,  and  was  indignant  at  having  his 
nap  disturbed. 

W.  reached  Corsicana  at  five  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  and  here  we  enjoyed  a 
most  agreeable  surprise  in  the  »hape  of  a  magnificent  Pullman  palace  car,  which 
had  been  placed  at  our  disposal,  and  which  was  then  making  ite  first  trip  over 
the  Texas  Central.  It  was  built  in  Pennsylvania,  and  was  an  exceedingly 
creditable  specimen,  including  all  the  recent  improvements,  with  side-lights  for 
the  benefit  of  those  who  desire  to  read  in  the  evening.  This  is  the  first  Pullman 
ever  seen  in  Texas.  We  were  brought  near  to  home  by  finding  the  New  York 
and  New  Orleans  papers  of  a  very  recent  date  spread  before  us.  Northern  ice 
was  in  the  water-cooler,  and  we  soon  forgot  the  inconveniences  and  annoyances 
3 


18 

we  had  endured,  and  doubly  enjoyed  the  comforts  by  which  we  were  surrounded. 
It  was  accordingly  near  nine  o'clock  in  the  evening  when  we  reached 

HERNE, 

the  junction  of  the  International  and  Texas  Central  Railroads.  Here  we  were 
met  by  Mr.  H.  M.  Hoxie,  the  obliging  and  efficient  superintendent  of  the  Inter- 
national, and  escorted  to  his  pleasant  house,  near  the  depot,  where  a  sumptuous 
supper  awaited  us.  While  we  remained  at  table  the  party  was  so  quiet  and  so 
busily  engaged  in  discussing  the  good  things  set  before  them  that  conversation 
flagged,  and  our  chief  felt  constrained  to  apologize  to  our  accomplished  hostess 
for  our  apparent  indifference.  The  best  evidence  of  our  appreciation,  however, 
was  found  in  the  eagerness  with  which  we  disposed  of  her  tempting  viands,  and 
Mrs.  Hoxie  herself  appeared  to  consider  this  a  sufficient  compliment. 

Herne  has  become  quite  a  city  within  a  year  and  is  dostined  to  grow  rapidly. 
Here  we  met  a  well-known  Pennsylvanian, 

HON.    GALUSHA   A.    GROW, 

president  of  the  Houston  and  Great  Northern  Railroad,  a  work  which  he  is 
earnestly  pressing  forward,  supported  by  the  confidence  of  the  whole  people. 
His  agreeable,  frank,  and  sincere  manners,  have  made  him  quite  a  favorite. 

Greatly  refreshed  by  the  kind  treatment  we  received  at  Herne,  we  again 
entered  the  sleeper  and  rode  to  Hempstead,  where  we  took  the  railway  leading  to 
Austin,  the  capital  of  the  State,  arriving  there  about  eight  o'clock  in  the  morn- 
ing. Austin  is  nobly  placed  on  seven  hills,  and  its  sarroundings  are  beautiful. 
It  has  many  handsome  buildings ,  and  the  hotel  accommodations  are  excellent. 
Colonel  Scott  and  two  of  the  directors  of  the  road,  and  General  Dodge,  called  on 
Governor  E.  J.  Davis  at  the  Governor's  mansion,  a  splendid  edifice  on  a  fine 
eminence,  literally  embowered  in  a  natural  conservatory  of  choice  trees  and 
flowers,  several  of  which — the  "  umbrella  China,"  for  instance — were  indescriba- 
bly lovely.  He  is  a  tall,  fine-looking  personage,  about  forty-five,  and  talks  and 
demeans  himself  like  a  gentleman.  He  gave  us  a  gracious  welcome,  and  hailed 
our  road  as  the  permanent  redemption  of  Texas.  He  looks  like  a  resolute  and 
fearless  man ;  and  many  oppose  him,  yet  everybody  says  he  is  perfectly  incor- 
ruptible. We  spent  Sunday  at  Austin,  and  started  for  Houston  at  eight 
o'clock  in  the  evening.  We  arrived  at 

HOUSTON 

at  eight  o'clock  on  Monday  morning,  and  were  at  once  driven  to  the  Hutchins 
House,  a  brick  hotel  of  large  dimensions,  which  we  understood  had  been  built 
and  paid  for  with  Confederate  currency.  The  proprietor  raised  all  his  fruits  and 
vegetables  in  a  garden  near  the  hotel,  and  his  success  was  the  best  proof  of  the 
adaptation  of  the  soil  to  the  varied  fruits  of  the  earth.  Four  leading  railroads 
meet  at  and  diverge  from  Houston.  It  is  a  substantial-looking  city,  and  has  many 
enterprising  inhabitants.  Yellow  fever  has  not  visited  this  section  of  Texas  for 


19 

several  years,  although  every  season  the  people  naturally  anticipate  its  arrival. 
The  disease  has  been  carefully  studied,  however,  and  professional  nurses  generally 
succeed  in  saving  lives  when  the  patients  are  taken  in  time.  The  most  intense 
heat  prevails  between  the  hours  of  nine  in  the  morning  and  two  in  the  after- 
noon. After  that  a  delicious  breeze  springs  up,  and  the  nights  are  nearly 
always  cool  and  comfortable. 

The  Hutchins  House  is  called  after  W.  J.  Hutchins,  vice  president  of  tho 
1« -ruling  railroad  of  the  State,  the  Houston  and  Texas  Central — a  Northern  man, 
but  for  thirty  years  a  resident  of  Texas,  where  he  has  acquired  a  large  fortune. 
He  was  espeeially  attentive  to  Colonel  Scott*  greeting  him  in  the  new  Pullman 

md  extending  liberal  courtesies  to  his  associates.  He  is  a  man  who  would 
make  his  mark  anywhere.  I  wish  I  could  refer  personally  to  the  good  men  of 
my  profession  who  called  to  me  on  my  way  through  Texas.  They  were  of  all 
sides  in  politics,  and  did  not  care  whether  I  agreed  with  them  or  not.  Tracy,  of 
th--  II..u>tMn  /  1  i. and  an  especial  trump,  and  I  was  glad  to  see  that — 

tin  nigh  as  resolute  and  radical  as  myself — he  had  the  good  will  of  all  parties. 

-  a  belligerent  Grant  man  ;  talks  rijrht  <-ut  in  meeting;  gives  blow  for  blow; 

thinks  Texas  was  Jhe  first  thing  created  after  God  made  Heaven,  herein 
slightly  differing  from  General  Sheridan's  epigram. 

The  scarcity  of  wholesome  and  palatable  drinking  water  is  one  of  tho  greatest 
drawbacks  to  Southern  Texas.  In  many  places  the  springs  are  impregnated  with 
salt,  alum  or  copperas,  and  in  some  localities  entirely  unfitted  for  culinary  or 
drinking  purposes.  These  difficulties  are  obviated,  however,  by  tho  introduction 
of  large  cisterns,  which  have  been  generally  adopted  by  all  who  understand 
tho  secret  of  making  themselves  comfortable.  Each  house  has  a  cistern 

hed,  and  the  winter  rains  only  are  carefully  n.lleeted.  In  many  instances 
they  pass  through  a  filtering  apparatus  filled  with  charcoal.  With  tho  first 
advent  of  spring,  or  as  early  as  the  first  of  February,  the  cistern  is  closed.  The. 
water  undergoes  the  process  of  fermentation,  after  which  it  becomes  as  clear  as 
crystal.  It  is  pal-itable  even  without  ice,  but  with  it  is  fully  equal  to,  and,  in- 
«1  <1,  surpasses  most  of  the  water  used  in  Northern  cities.  Artesian  wells  are, 
however,  frequently  sunk,  in  nearly  every  case  with  marked  success.  Wo 
remained  in  Houston  till  half  past  ten  o'clock,  when  we  took  a  special  train 
for  Galveston,  some  fifty  miles  further  South.  Almost  the  entire  distance  was 
across  the  prairie,  which  is  very  thinly  settled,  and  but  few  attempts  have  been 
made  at  cultivation.  The  whole  expanse  is  used  for  grazing  purposes,  and  sub- 
sists thousands  of  cattle.  Whirling  rapidly  along,  we  noticed  the  prairie  on  fire, 
and  clouds  of  smoke  ascended  in  the  distance,  while  the  flames  eagerly  licked  the 
dry,  parched  grass,  and  moved  on  with  resistless  fury.  Superintendent  Nichols 
was  in  charge  of  the  train,  and  did  everything  to  render  the  trip  a  pleasant  one. 
We  approached  Galveston  over  an  arm  of  the  sea,  by  a  bridge  of  piles  nearly  two 
miles  in  length,  and  greatly  enjoyed  the  view  here  afforded  of  its  magnificent 
beach,  which  is  said  to  be  twenty  miles  in  length,  and  has  been  pronounced  by 
pld  salts  the  finest  in  the  world. 


20 

Among  the  many  agreeable  new  acquaintances  none  seemed  so  much  like  an 
old  friend  as  General  R.  D.  Nichols,  president  of  the  Galveston,  Houston  and 
Henderson  Railroad,  who  lived  at  Galveston,  and  who  treated  us  with  a  princely 
hospitality,  made  more  delightful  by  his  natural  bonTiomie  and  his  lively  interest 
in  the  progress  of  the  times.  He  was  born  in  New  York,  and  has  grown  to  for- 
tune in  Texas.  He  lives  in  true  Southern  style,  and  seems  to  have  all  his  old 
slaves  about  him,  who  look  up  to  him  no  longer  as  a  master  but  as  a  friend. 

We  regretted  our  inability  to  visit 

SAN   ANTONIO, 

which  is  said  to  be  one  of  the  most  unique  and  interesting  cities  in  the  south- 
western section  of  the  Union.  It  was  more  than  eighty  miles  distant  from 
Austin,  the  nearest  point,  and  the  journey  would  have  to  be  performed  by 
stages  over  a  very  rough  road. 

TO    ANXIOUS   INQUIRERS. 

"What  has  been  printed  in  THE  PRESS  about  my  trip  to  Texas  has  over- 
whelmed me  with  inquiries.  I  can  neither  answer  my  correspondents  nor  my 
visitors.  I  knew  how  much  interest  was  felt  in  the  Southwest,  but  I  did  not 
know  how  many  of  our  best  people  would  like  to  go  there,  the  followers  of  Col. 
Scott,  as  artisans  and  farmers.  Let  me  repeat  to  these  that  Texas,  of  all  the 
Southern  States  is 

THE   WHITE   MAN'S   COUNTRY. 

It  has  a  territory  of  280,000  square  miles  of  arable  land.  Its  climate,  especially 
along  the  line  of  our  road,  is  healthy.  After  you  leave  Galveston  there  are  no 
epidemics.  I  never  saw  stouter  men  or  women  than  in  Northeastern  Texas.  A 
person  desiring  to  visit  Texas,  starting  from  Philadelphia  or  New  York,  can  get 
there  (  Texas)  for  about  $80 ;  Philadelphia  to  New  Orleans,  about  $40,  and  from 
New  Orleans  to  Galveston,  $18 ;  or  if  he  prefer  to  go  by  the  Red  river  the  cost 
would  be  a  little  more.  With  $200  in  his  pocket  he  can  see  all  the  points  of  in- 
terest. A  recent  Texas  writer  says :  "  Men  with  families,  who  only  have  means 
to  bring  themselves  and  families  to  Texas,  need  not  fear  to  come.  The  great 
mass  of  men  here  arrived  without  means.  A  man  who  is  willing  to  labor  can 
get  provisions  advanced,  and  any  man  setting  into  work  can  get  dry  goods  on 
credit  until  the  close  of  the  season.  In  two  years  any  energetic  man  can  make 
money  enough  to  buy  such  stock  as  are  needed  on  a  small  farm,  when  the  'new- 
comer'  can  buy  a  small  piece  of  land  on  credit,  and  in  two  years  be  independent. 
His  stock  growing  around  him  without  cost,  winter  or  summer,  his  current 
expenses  after  the  second  year  can  be  met  without  using  the  means  resulting 
from  the  farm." 

ADVICE    TO    YOUNG   FARMERS. 

There  are  ten  thousand  young  farmers  in  the  Middle  States  who  could  do  more 
for  themselves  and  for  their  country  by  acting  on  these  suggestions  than  by  any 


21 

otht-r  venture-     They  must  not  be  afraid  «>f  social  ostracism.     Let  them  go  out 

ans  <»r    iVmoerats.      Nobody  will  harm  them  s«»  long  as  they  are  not 
foolish.     Thry   need    not  go  out  to  advertise  their  politics.     They 
.-hould  be  firm  uud  i'earlos.  and  then  nobody  will  interrupt  them. 


TFIK   OEOPfl    FOR  18T2. 

The  crops  of  cotton,  com,  wheat.  OttS,  tobae.-o.  siujar.  rice,  oranjres,  and  pota- 
:•  pnuuisf  ama/int;  results.      What  adds  to  the  value  of  this  knowl- 
is  the  tact  that  labor  is  paid       A-  I  - -i\v  in  one  stretch  of  country  between 
hear   City  and  Algiers,  L.uii>iana  -ttoii.  rice,  oranges,  banana.-. 

and    in    Texas,  on    on.-    plantation.com    twelve    feet    hi^h.  three   ears  t-«  a  stalk  ; 
OOtton,  a  bah-  to  ;m  acre,  wlr  I  in  full  promise  of  overflowing-  cotters,  the 

thmiL'liT    tir-t    in    my  mind  was,  that    !  ts   >hare  of  the  profits,  and  that 

0WD6fihfp   was  not  only  not  le->  rieh.  but  far  more  happy. 

Our   h.m.Miatie  fri.-n.U   in  Texas  generally  go  for  Greeley,  and  are  a  little 
intolerant    a-ain>t    thn>,-  who  d»  H  and  then  a  tin*-  fellow  like  ,)(,hn   D. 

Klliott.  of  the  Austin    7V/    M  r,-d    I  >eino,Tat  _  <W(-ars  hituely 

that  he  won't  support  <ire-i  ped  by  thi<  tune  he  h  i>  .-wallowed  the 

phi!- 

At    hallas    I    in.-t    Mr.  \\". •-••nfartli.  an   intelli-.-nt    German,  who  was  going  to 
.  in    the    Indini    i-..untr\.  toe>tib!i-!i  Q  (l.-rman  colon\    -a  bri-ht.  b: 
fellow.        1  00   the    l.'jtil  of  AugUSt;    I  gUVO  hitll  a   lett«.T  tO  GeU- 

1 1  il  l*<  Ik  nap  asking  for  an  escort. 


GENERAL    ^\      H.     KMnRT. 

\V  ri I  \\' .  li    I!  ».'W  Orleans,  now  in  command  at  New 

(  '       in> — a  ripe  fruit  of  half  a  century's  BUD.  and  M«irm  in    the    national   service. 

i   all   m\  re-.ird   for   th.-  \»luiitr«Tv  t!  n.-thin'_r  in  an  old-la>hioned 

fellow  hk  ii.it  eipri  Thi.-e  r'-'julars  have  a  sort  of  sturdy  im- 

ility  as  b.-tw,  «  n  factions  -in  ir  -n   d-  \otiou  to  country — that  makes  them  a 

;  of  supreme  court  in  a  flairs.      He  was  most  welcome  to  Colonel   Seott  as  th" 

r   of  the   government    who   made   th«-   oriuin  d    n-o.mini-.-aiM-.'.  and  w,is  the 

eoinmi^ion.  r  for  running  th  uidary  which  is  now  au  important  part  of 

our  line  to  the  Taeitie 

TKXAS    TIM  HER. 

Tli  •  foj-.-sts  and  belts  of  timber  interspersed  with  the  prairies  of  Middle  and 
a  great  variety  of  lumber   adapted  for  fuel   and  ship- 
building and  railroad  purposes.     Nearly  all  the  oaks  so  common  to  our  section 
grow  luxuriantly  in  Texas.     In  addition  to  theso  the  live  oak  is  found  in  abund- 
in  the  eoa>t  counties,  much  of  it  within  thy  reach  of  tidewater  navigation. 


22 

Vast  forests  of  pine  on  the  Sabine,  Angelina,  and  Xueces  rivers  will  yield  almost 
inexhaustible  supplies  of  tar,  pitch,  and  turpentine  for  the  commerce  of  the 
world.  Directly  on  the  line  of  the  Texas  and  Pacific  Railway,  the  post  oak  and 
cross  timber  lands  are  of  frequent  occurrence.  These  woods  are  close  grained, 
tough,  and  durable,  and  specially  useful  for  cross-ties  and  for  heavy  tressel-work. 
etc.  Hickory,  cypress,  ash,  poplar,  beech,  cottonwood,  and  the  swamp  willow 
grow  spontaneously,  affording  an  ample  supply  for  fuel. 


INCIDENTS    OF    TRAVEL. 

Our  trip  was  full  of  incident.  The  meeting  with  Governor  Throckmorton  was 
a  pleasant  surprise.  As  a  director  of  the  Texas  and  Pacific  he  was  most  useful. 
He  knows  the  State  as  ''the  seaman  knows  the  sea,"  and  is  a  rare  popular 
favorite.  His  sketches  of  past  history — his  anecdotes  of  Houston  and  Rusk — 
his  Indian  legends — his  magnetic  humor — made  him  a  rare  addition  to  our  little 
party.  Throckmorton,  like  all  the  rest,  fought  in  the  Confederate  service,  after 
having  boldly  resisted  secession  as  a  State  Senator.  Like  General  Houston,  he 
believed  nothing  but  disaster  would  crown  the  rebellion.  Houston  refused  to 
the  end  to  take  the  Confederate  oath,  for  which  he  was  deposed  from  the  office 
of  Governor  of  Texas,  the  last  office  he  held.  I  found  his  name  a  talisman 
everywhere.  Every  reference  to  him  in  niy  speeches  touched  the  hearts  of  my 
audience.  He  died  at  Huntersville,  Texas,  July  25th,  1863,  aged  70,  but  not 
till  he  had  warned  his  friends  against  the  madness  of  the  rebellion.  Had  he  not 
been  wise  and  prudent  beyond  most  men,  there  would  have  been  a  civil  war  in 
Texas,  as  there  were  thousands  of  Unionists  ready  to  rise  for  the  old  flag  •  but 
his  counsels  restrained  whui  should  have  been  an  unspeakable  calamity.  Throck- 
morton was  sent  by  Prccicbnt  Davis  into  the  Indian  country  to  form  a  treaty 
with  the  red  men,  and  earned  the  sobriquet  of  "  Leatherskin"  from  his  suit 
of  buckskin,  presented  to  him  by  the  far-famed  Elias  Rector,  of  Arkansas,  one 
of  the  old-time  Indian  traders.  He  remained  with  them  for  several  months, 
down  to  the  collapse  of  the  Confederacy.  His  descriptions  of  their  life  would  fill 
a  volume  with  romantic  adventures.  One  incident  he  relates  with  peculiar 
gusto  :  Three  friendly  Indians,  a  brave  and  his  two  young  wives,  who  had  been 
active  in  restoring  some  white  captives,  called  to  see  <;  Leatherskin"  at  his  home 
in  Collin  county.  The  chief  was  particularly  struck  with  his  likeness  in  one  of 
the  Governor's  full-length  mirrors,  and  insisted  upon  taking  his  hat  as  a  memento, 
while  the  females  were  as  urgent  to  be  dressed  like  the  ladies  of  the  family,  even 
to  hoops  and  bustles.  They  were  gratified,  and  bore  their  new  burdens  with 
commendable  gravity. 

POLITICS. 

Everybody  talks  politics  in  Texas.     You  can  no  more  avoid  air  than  political 
discussions.    I  found  that  I  was  quite  well  if  not  favorably  known,  and  generally 


23 

had  a  salute  after  this  fashion:  "I   remember  you  well  when  you  edited  the 

L'm'nn  at   Washington  and  the  Peiattyhaman  at   Philadelphia,  and  saw  your 

change  into  a  Republican  with  rcj  To  which  I  always  an>wered:  "And  I 

now  have  to  return  your  compliment.  MS  I  see  you  all  going  over  to  Mr.  Greelev. 

the  oldest,  and   ablest,  and   fiercest  of  all   the   Republicans."     A  hearty  lauirh 

followed  the  retort,  ami  copious  inquiries  about    I'nele  Horace.     They  are  not 

quite  sure  of  him,  but  "anything  to  i  r  a  number  of 

lawyers,  on  their  overland  way  to  Au-tin.  -  -t  into  a  high   controversy  about    the 

fl  of  the  hour,  and  as  th  i  t->  wat.-r  their  h«-i--  Deluded  they 

would  ask  the  tir-t  person  they  met  how  he  t'.-lt  on  the  subject.     At  this  moment 

a  1  >n_r.  t.>w-headed   youth  of  about  seventeen  came  out  of  one  of  the  cabin>.  and 

th.'   .jut^rion  was   put    to  him.      It  was   evident    that    he   e.-uld    neither    r.-i.l    nor 

his  reply  was  indignant  and  quirk  :   "All  f  kn<  ;f  is.  thai    I'm 

damned  if  I  aint  going  to  have  my  rights  in  the  T.-rrit  -rios." 


i '.AGGERS. 

d  of  carpet-baggers  is  in  ten-  logical.    They  forgive  in  an  instant 

when  the  o},j,.< -li.mal  person  turns  over  to  them.    They  have  Co  ;•  srdoued 

A.  J.  Hamilton  since  he  declared  for  Greeley,  just  as  they  have  taken  the  ' 
into  their  confidence,  and  when  we  first  entered   Louisiana  th  \  hly 

severe  on  Governor  Warmouth  ,  yet,  as  we  passed  t!  01  on  our 

ii,  wo  found  them  much  moderated  in  view  of  his  declaration  for  th     S 
< 'li .]  ;  i'|iia.     Governor  Davis,  of  Texas,  is  still  under  th<    hm,  and  likely  to 

u  so,  as  he  is  a  stern  friend  of  Grant 


ROBERT    B.    LF.E. 

ral  Lee's  likontwB  is  in  every  house.  !!•  >-  th.  eh.  ri-hcd  idol  Some- 
t 'mi -s  he  is  side  by  side  with  Washington;  but. I  saw  Jefferson  Davis  nowhere 
but  in  one  restaurant  at  Galveston.  He  seems  to  have  fallen  under  a  cloud. 


STUDIES   FOB  THE   ARTIST. 

Had  the  artfc  of  our  party  not  been  better  employed,  ho  could  have  gathered 
man  i  for  his  pencil.     Some  o£  the  pictures  that  passed  before  us  were 

unique  and  beautiful.    One  hot  afternoon  u  to  rest  and  refresh  ourselves 

at  a  lo^r  t-ahiu  iQ  a  grove  on  the  brow  of  a  prairie.  A  likely  woman  with  a  lovely 
child  sat  on  the  porch  and  b  her  gourd  to  dip  the  water  from  a  well  on 

the  premises.  She  was  surprised  at  our  display  of  ice,  and  said  this  was  the  first 
she  had  ever  seen.  Innocent  and  ignorant,  herself  and  child  were  fair  types  of 
frontier  simplicity,  and  her  little  house  was  neat  and  clean.  As  we  paused  in 
this  solitude  two  hunters  rode  in  from  the  near  thicket,  and  halted  to  have  a  look 


24 

at  the  strangers.  Each  had  his  rifle,  and,  as  they  sat  on  their  horses,  with  their 
long  guus  laid  over  their  Mexican  saddles,  their  broad  sombreros,  leather  leggins, 
and  tightly-girdled  blouses,  they  looked  as  if  they  had  come  to  have  their  portraits 
taken.  After  a  steady  stare  they  rode  rapidly  away  Another  day  we  came  in 
upon  quite  a  cavalcade  of  sportsmen  with  their  dogs,  horses,  guns,  and  provisions. 
They  were  just  entering  on  a  scout  for  deer,  of  which,  they  told  us,  there  was  a 
great  abundance.  Summer  is  the  seas'  n  for  this  pastime  and  venison  steak  in 
July  is  a  delicacy  much  prized. 

ANECDOTE. 

I  was  a  good  deal  amused  one  day  by  a  friendly  dispute  between  two  Demo- 
crats on  the  labor  question.  How  to  get  people  to  do  the  work  is  a  problem 
hourly  debated.  "Why,"  said  one  of  them,  '-while  we  white  men  are  talking 
about  labor  the  negroes  are  doing  it.  Here  now  is  Texas,  with  her  three  hun- 
dred thousand  bales  of  cotton  every  year,  more  than  two-thirds  of  it  made  by  the 
darkey.  Let  us  put  our  own  shoulders  to  the  wheel, and  do  justice  to  those  wh«». 
with  all  their  faults,  are  our  best  friends/'  There  was  an  Attic  salt  in  the  point 
that  gave  it  an  epigrammatic  flavor. 


CHINAMEN. 

There  are  several  thousand  Chinamen  in  Louisiana.  Some  of  them  are  on 
Oakes  Ames'  extensive  plantation,  near  New  Orleans.  They  are  good  hands,  but 
keen  after  their  interest,  and  ready  to  demand  an  increase  of  wages  on  any  pre- 
text. In  the  counties  of  Smith,  Tyler,  Van  Zant.  Dallas,  Collin,  Tarrant,  the 
whites  predominate,  and  there  the  work  is  done  mainly  by  them ;  but  the  reliable 
field-hand  is  the  negro  everywhere.  The  one  fact  that  more  cotton  has  been  pro- 
duced since  the  war  than  ever  before,  and  commands  higher  prices,  concludes  all 
controversy  as  to  the  usefulness  of  the  colored  man. 


MECHANICS    WANTED. 

The  absence  of  skilled  mechanics  in  the  South  is  one  of  the  bad  results  of 
slavery.  At  McComb  City,  Mississippi,  on  the  line  of  Colonel  McComb's  railroad, 
all  the  workmen  in  the  shops  are  Northerners.  They  are  decent,  intelligent  men. 
and  must,  by  their  industry  and  good  habits,  exercise  a  good  influence  on  th 
community.  Every  person  with  whom  I  talked  acknowledged  that  until  tli3 
South  entered  upon  a  regular  system  of  manufacturing,  it  cannot  assume  and  hold 
its  just  position.  As  Throckmorton  said  in  his  great  speeches  at  Dallas  and  Fort 
Worth,  if  Pennsylvania  can  do  such  marvels  with  her  cold  climate,  long  winters, 
and  comparatively  sterile  hill-sides,  what  may  not  the  South  do  with  her  superior 
capacities  ?  Throckmorton  was  an  Old-line  Whig,  and  don't  forget  the  protection 


-  of  Clay  and  Webster.     They  have  everything  to  make  manufactures  profit- 
able. 

UAILK"AI'S    l\    TEX  LS. 

V' tiling  is  more  interesting  than  the  ^r..\vth  of  railroads.  In  1830  there  were 
l.ur  L>:;  miles  in  op.-rati.rn  in  tin-  l"nited  States;  in  1831,  but  95;  in  1840,2,818;  in 
1850.  !».OlM  ;  in  ISIJO,  30,635 j  in  1870,  :>:J,399.  Ofth.se.  Texas  had  in  1871 
only  711  miles.  Now  when  -  a  larger  extent  of 

Territory  than  all  N  \\  Mil-land.  N  '^  rk.  New  .J.-r>.-y.  Pennsylvania,  Mary- 
lainl.  IM-iwar-'.  and  lvi.-t  ami  \V.-t  Virginia  c  .mbined.  and  p  ;v:mta-vs 

;l  and  cli::  in  impert  ml  to,  it  is  easy  to  realize  how  rapidly 

inii-t  he  tli.-  increase  of  its  r.iilma 

ti.-  Railway  now  r.m>iMs  .if  \vhat  was   hfivtoforo  known  in 
I  -  llailpiail,  startinu'  at    Shrcvi-port,  mi 

.  t'Xt<-ndi;  .  twrfii  th  •  :i_M  and  ii.'Jil  paralK-ls  ROrOflB  tl«.«-  Sta: 

I  arOBfl  th-     :  UOO  and  Ari/.-ma.  mi  nr    near 

tin-  linr  «.t'th.-  .".'_' 1 1  j.arall. -1  t-»    I-'i-rt   Vuini.  'ii  the  Colondo  riv.-r.      Cr..»in^  tin- 

river  at  that  |»-.int  it  enl  B  ilitiirnia,  and  goes  by  t lie   nn»t    di-r.-t 

and  practical  rMiitc  to  the  ha:  mi    the    I'acilic    coast — the    r«»ad 

•  WO    as    the    TranS-e  1    <'.>lii|.:n  :.-d   liy  th.-  State  oi' 

H  ..I'takiiiL'  '»{>  tlie  old  -rant.-*  in  c,.nn«-ctimi  with  the  .Memnhis 

and    El  Paso,  c..niniencin'_r  at    T  .  v.  hich  i>  n.-ar  Fultmi    mi    the 

n.-as    line,  and  extend;:  ;  kana  west,   tln-.n-h    the   c.. unties   of 

.  ('..llin.   l>i-ntmi,  and  t"    l'..rt    \\'..rtli. 

in    the   c.  it.  \\li.i-e   it    i:  .:ih    tlie   main  line,  as   above   de- 

L     T  ro  lines  are  again  rmm«-»-t.  d  by  a  1m-  tV-.m  Mar-hall,  in  Texas, 

by  V  •  ;  .     'I'he  O  .rkana  will  be 

by  the  Cairo  and  Fultmi  line,  by  way  «•!'  Litrle  1;  ,,-k  f..  M.-nij.hi-.  Cairo,  and  St. 
Lmiis.  At  Slir.-v.  j..-rt  the  main  line  will  cminert  with  the  N'ick-biipj-  and 
ShreVi'jM.rt  liin — thus  affording  an  outlet  to  th  md  b\  in- an- 

of  the  \"ieksburg  and   Meridian  n>ad,  with  all  the  lines  running  throiiirh   Mi- 
sij.j.i.  Al  •    rth  Carol  -  .lina.  Cleor-ia.  \'ir-inia.  Washington, 

.  Philadelphia,  and  -'Ppi» 

with  the  M  wppi  Central  line  to  New  Orleans,  Cairo,  St.  L.uk  Chiea-o, 
I.  lifTiDe,  IndianajM.li.-,.  Cincinnati,  and  all  points  east  by  tin:  Xew  York  and 

-;  Kania  1 

[F  d  understanding  of  this  description  see  map.] 

The  oth.  r  >\>t-  in  oi  present  consists  of  the  Texas  Central, 

coinnieiicini:  at  Hmi.-ton  and  extending  north  to  Dallas,  and  thence  to  the  Red 
river,  where  it  will  form  a  connection  with  the  Missouri.  Kan.-as  and  Texas  line 
to  St  :d  all  tlie  hu,^  tributary  thereto.  The  Texas  Central  also 

has  a  line  connectini:  Houston  with  Au>tin.  tlie  capital  of  the  State.  From 
Flonston  also  starts  the  Houston  and  great  Northern  line,  which  is  extended 
north  also  by  a  line  running  to  the  Trinity  and  Sabine  rivers;  and  these  lines  it 


26 

is  proposed  to  run  from  Houston  up  to  the  Red  river,  being  the  northern 
boundary  line  of  Texas.  Intermediate  is  the  International,  and  a  road  also  com- 
mencing at  Texarkana  and  going  southwest  through  the  State  to  Austin  and 
thence  to  the  borders  of  Mexico,  is  now  projected.  These  lines  are  all  under  pro- 
gress, and  will  be  completed  within  the  next  few  years. 

From  Galveston  to  Houston  there  is  a  line  of  road  fifty  miles  in  length,  which 
connects  with  these  various  systems  and  gives  them  an  outlet  to  tide  water  at 
Galveston  harbor.  From  thence  a  Hue  is  being  constructed  to  San  Antonio. 
Another  line  is  also  being  constructed  by  the  Morgan  interest  of  New  York,  from 
Indianola  to  San  Antonio. 

These  various  lines  comprise  the  system  of  roads  in  Texas,  as  now  being  con- 
structed. A  line  is  also  about  to  be  commenced  from  Houston  to  New  Orleans, 
which  will  afford  an  outlet  for  the  Texas  Central,  Houston,  Great  Northern,  and 
the  International  to  the  harbor  and  commerce  of  New  Orleans.  Another  line  is 
projected  and  will  certainly  be  built,  from  Shreveport  to  New  Orleans,  by  way  of 
Baton  Rouge,  which  will  form  a  direct  outlet  for  the  Texas  and  Pacific  line  to 
New  Orleans.  It  will  be  observed  that  all  the  lines  running  from  Galveston  and 
from  the  northern  boundary  to  the  Texas  and  Pacific  line  will  gradually  form 
important  connections  with  all  of  them  for  the  interchange  of  traffic.. 


GOOD-BY    TO    GALVESTON, 

At  Galveston  we  had  a  most  cordial  reception.  The  citizens,  headed  by  the 
Mayor,  offered  Colonel  Scott  a  dinner,  which  he  declined,  but  took  a  rapid  survey 
of  the  harbor,  and  aided  them  by  many  valuable  suggestions.  Galveston  is  one  of 
the  points  that  must  be  reached  by  the  Texas  and  Pacific  Railway  through  its 
numerous  connecting  lines,  and  when  the  obstacles  to  its  commerce  are  removed, 
as  they  will  be,  we  hope,  by  the  generous  aid  of  Congress,  it  will  become,  what  it 
ought  to  be,  the  greatest  of  the  ports  on  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  largely  aiding  in  the 
development  of  Texas,  especially  in  the  matter  of  immigration. 

From  this  you  will  see  that  Colonel  Scott's  Texas  and  Pacific  will  shortly  have 
connections  with  St.  Louis,  New  Orleans.  Yicksburg,  Memphis,  and  Galveston. 
In  a  few  weeks  workmen  will  be  engaged  along  the  line  from  Long  View  to  Fort 
Worth,  and  in  a  little  more  than  a  year  the  Texas  and  Pacific  will  be  in  connection 
with  all  these  cities. 

MANUFACTURES    IN    TEXAS. 

I  have  already  referred  to  the  necessity  of  manufactures  in  Texas,  and  to  the 
incalculable  advantages  offered  to  capitalists  and  mechanics.  Especially  in  cotton 
fabrics  could  large  fortunes  be  made.  One  experienced  citizen  says  that  such 
enterprises  could  afford  to  pay  double  prices  to  labor,  and  yet  sell  their  goods 
lower  than  those  made  in  the  North,  and  I  heard  one  intelligent  resident  of 
Marshall  say,  that  with  the  assurance  of  responsible  associates  he  would  put 
$20.000  into  such  a  project  at  that  interesting  point.  Marshall  is  not  any  more 


27 

favorable  as  a  location  than  many  others  I  could  name.  The  growth  of  cotton  of 
the  county  (  Harrison)  is  20,000  bales  a  year,  and  its  fine  climate,  good  lauds, 
and  even  health,  will  make  it  a  must  favorable  locality  for  that  and  every  kind  of 

manufactures. 

THE    INDIANS. 

We  got  close  to  the  seat  of  the   Indian  country,  and  heard  many  rumors  of 
thrir  threats  and   atrocities.     The  ripe  judgment  of  experienced  Texans  is  all 
•i<t  the  humanitarian  policy.     They  a»-  rt    unhesitatingly  that  a  fighter  like 
Sheridan  or  Custer,  or  a  frontiersman  like   Ford,  is  a  far  better  instrument  than 
any  "f  tin*  Northern  philanthropic.      "  One  regiment  of  Texans  taken  from  the 
n   near    the    Indians."  says  ('.-I.  Turner,  "I"  Marshall,  "is  worth  an   army  of 
They  know  the  habits  and  haunts  of  the  tribes,  and  they  could  strike 
thfiM  so  f:i>t   and  fatally,  in  the  «  \. nt  ••!'  th-ir  disturbing  the  peace,  that  they 
wmild  be  compelled  to  yield."      1    heard  some  stories  of  the  barbarities  of  the 
ms  on  tlic  people. .fTexa-  that  Ifereso  f.-arful  in  all  their  nameless  horror  that 
idder  at  th.-  in. -I-.-  allusion  to  th-ni       \  litb  >r  sex  is  spared.     Death 

is  the  ijiiick  doom  of  the  men  and  worse  than  death  that  of  the  women.  The 
railroad,  however ,  is  the  gre  [t  :.  .  -  rh-Misand  ohstael.-. 

none  feels  it  so  soon  or  yields  before  it  so  sincerely  as  th  The  loco- 

ve  is  SO  much  more  rapid  than  the  cavalry  or  infantry,  tint  they  ivjvml  it  at 
last  as  a  messviiL'er  that  can  nor  defeated      The  (Government 

4ied  Col.  Scott  with  ample  protect  ion  f..r  our  cn/m.vrs  and  workmen. 
Statesmen  HUM  f.-.-l  th  it  th.-  Texa-  and  Pacific  Railway  is  of  infinite  conse- 
quence as  an  economic  measur  It  u  U  pa)  !>nl  in  the  mer,  -f  expense 
to  keep  down  •  ulions  of  m-.m-y.  while  it  will  open  millions  of  acres 
now  swept  by  these  wild  men  of  the  desert  to  millions  of  athletic  whites. 


MINERALS    OF    TEXAS. 

God,  in  his  generosity,  seems  to  have  given  a  share  of  all  of  his  best  gifts  to 

lie  vestibule  of  rich  M  : ml  the  Texas  and  Pacific  Railway  may 

he  called  the  k.»-y  ;  all  that  is  now  needed  is  a  firm,  bold  American  hand  to  open  the 

door  to  t:  vsso  long  kept  fr..m  the  world  at  large,  and  as  yet 

scarcely  touched  by  ci\  i!i/at  uly  partially  known  to  science.     There  are 

no  H  i  near  the  termini  or  in  the  neighborhood  of  any  of  the  other  trans- 

nental    r-'iit.-.      JJut    before  we  reach  Mexico  let  us  look  at  the  minerals 

of  Texas  itself,  most  of  which  an-   in  th.«  direct  line  of  the  Texas  and  Pacific 

11  of  Burm-t.  Llan...  Lamj.i-as.  .Mason   and   McCulloch    is  of 

four    spe.  '  M.-tie.  vj.altic,  specular,  and    hematic;    much    of  it   adapted 

to  steel.     I   have  already  spoken  of  the  ore  at  Kelley's  works,  near  Jefferson. 

They  claim  t<>  hav  1  a  superior  anthracite  in  several  counties,  and  have 

sent  specimens  to  the  i  J. neral  Land  Office  at  Washington.     The  copper  of  Texas 

nds  on  no  hypothesis,  but  is  a  fact      I  *»aw  specimens  of  almost  pure  ore. 


28 

Wichita,  where  my  German  friend  goes  with  his  colony  of  four  hundred  Saxons, 
abounds  in  this  metal.  A  recent  writer  says  of  this  prolific  region,  not  less  re- 
markable for  its  mineral  than  for  its  agricultural  affluence  :  "  All  that  is  required 
to  make  it  one  of  the  most  valuable  regions  in  the  world  is  the  completion  of  the 
niuch-talked-of  and  anxiously-looked-for  Southern  Pacific  Railroad."  The  lead 
and  silver  of  El  Paso,  Presidio,  Banderah.  and  Llano  counties  are  proved  to 
exist  in  large  quantities.  Gold  has  beer  found  in  limited  quantities  in  the  same 
region.  There  are  a  dozen  salt  works  ;n  the  State.  The  average  yield  of  the 
works  at  Coffee's  Saline,  in  Llano  county,  is  five  hundred  bushels,  to  be  easily 
increased  by  intelligent  labor  to  two  thousand  bushels.  The  salt  lakes  on  the 
coast,  however,  supply  the  greatest  amount. 

There  is  no  gypsum  field  in  the  world  surpassing  in  extent  that  of  Texas.  It 
is  found  almost  everywhere  on  the  waters  of  Red  river,  extending  into  Staked 
Plains,  and  through  the  cretaceous  formations  of  the  State.  That  of  saccharoidal 
character  predominates,  but  thin,  transparent  plates  of  selenite  in  crystals  are 
common  in  various  parts  of  the  State. 

Large  deposits  of  potters'  and  fire  clays,  adapted  to  the  manufacture  of  pottery, 
in  Eastern,  Northern,  and  Southern  Texas,  marls  and  other  fertilizers,  mineral 
oils  and  pigments  j  feldspar  in  the  granite  veins,  associated  with  garnets  and 
tourmaline  of  various  colors ;  mica,  in  transparency  and  size  of  plates  equal  to 
that  of  New  Hampshire.  Llano.  Burnet.  and  Mason  counties.  Extensive  quarries 
of  marble  and  roofing  slate  and  grindstone  in  San  Saba,  Burnet,  and  Llano 
counties ;  soapstones  and  asbestos  in  Llano  county,  with  a  large  class  of  Metallic 
substances  usually  present  in  highly  metalliferous  regions — such  as  alum,  cobalt, 
nickel,  manganese,  arsenic — abound,  the  description  of  wnich  would  occupy  more 
space  than  can  be  spared  in  the  present  issue.  They  are  generally  found  in  com- 
bination with  each  other  or  associated  with  other  metals,  which,  though  at 
present  of  little  economic  value,  will  no  doubt  grow  in  consequence  with  the 
increase  of  population  in  the  State  and  progress  of  the  useful  arts,  until  eventu- 
ally, under  the  mental  effects  of  cheapened  labor  and  enlarged  means  of  transpor- 
tation, they  shall  come  to  employ  much  capital  in  the  work  of  their  extraction, 
and  add  largely  to  the  material  wealth  of  the  country. 

Through  the  energy  and  perseverance  of  Dr.  Watson,  Messrs.  Barnet.  Spiller, 
and  Hudspeth,  of  San  Saba  county,  the  existence  of  precious  stones  in  Buruet, 
Llano,  and  Mason  counties,  such  as  garnets  unusually  large  in  size  and  well 
crystallized,  opals,  rubies,  amethyst,  and  agates  of  beautiful  colors  and  figures,  is 
known.  Many  of  these,  when  subjected  to  the  skill  of  the  lapidary,  will  equal 
those  imported. 

CONCLUSION. 

I  stop  at  G-alveston.  The  pleasant  ride  on  the  City  of  Norfolk,  one  of  the 
Charles  Morgan  steamers,  across  the  Gulf  to  Brashear  City,  and  hence  by  rail  to 
New  Orleans,  marked  by  the  genteel  civilities  and  friendly  attentions  of  Captain 
Hopkins  and  his  assistants,  and  by  the  constant  kindness  of  Mr.  Hutchinson  and 


29 

Captain  Fowler,  sent  from  New  Orleans  to  convey  our  party  to  Louisiana,  and 
t!i<  almost  royal  welcome  to  the  Crescent  City — these  deserve  a  separate  chapter, 
:is  tin  y  have  a  separate  remembrance.  u  What  1  saw  in  Texas"  is  another  affair. 
Such  as  it  is  I  give  it  to  my  readers.  Written  in  the  midst  of  all  manner  of 
interruptions,  and  almost  from  memory,  its  many  errors  must  be  forgiven,  because 
I  have  tried  to  make  it  fair. 

PHILADELPHIA,  July  15,  187 '1. 


•>rial  Correspondence  of  The  Press.] 

j-fUDSONVILLE,     ^LlSSISSIPPI, 

(ON  THE  CARS,)  June  14,  1872. 

.  K  we  are  on  Fri-luy.  June  1  Ith,  twelve  hundred  and  twenty-five  miles 

from  Phil:nl«-l|.|ii:i.  :it  BudaonriOe  station,  h.iving  left  our  home  on  Wednesday, 

the  1-th.  P.M.,  iiiakini:.  in  a   little  over  two  days'  traveling,  about  BIX 

humln  .1  miles  a  day.     My  experience  has  been  a  new  revelation.     Kentucky 

and   Tennessee  present  sonic  strikin  (lering   in  everything  from 

lVnn-\lvunia  and  Ohio,  yet  infinitely  more  resemblim:  the  first  than  the  last  in 

tln-ir  lino  forests,  luxuriant  vegetation,  and  rolling  country.     From  Pittsbin 

Cincinnati,  Kastern  Ohio  seemed  sterile  and  barren  even  in  the  lovely  month 

1  we  got  to  the  Queen  City,  more  resembled  a  Southern  than 

a  great  Northern  State.     The  soil  is  good,  but  the  cultivation  comparatively 

and  the  farm-houses  and  out-buildings  presented  a  somewhat  sudden 

contract   t  ••  th«  magnifi'  -»f  well-tilled  and  care  fully- farmed  planta- 

ti'» us  from  the  moment  we  1  iiia  until  evening  closed  over  the  ex- 

ima  of  the  Juuiata,  as  we  rolled  into  Lewistown   and  began    to 

'  our  gradual  ascent  of  the  Alleghanies.    As  we  crossed  the  bridge  leading 

from  the  Ohio  to  the   I\- nt'i  ky  side,  I   remembered  a  remark   of  John  C. 

kin  ridge  when  he  came  into  Congress  from  the  Lexington  district,  more 

than  twenty  years  ago — a  remark  made  to  him  shortly  before  by  the  hero  of 

nto,  the  lamented  and  patriotic  General  Sam  Houston,  of  Texas,  as 

were  riding  along  the  Ohio  on  one  of  the  palatial  steamers  from  Louisville: 

'•  There  on  our  right  is  Ohio;  here  on  our  left  is  Kentucky — the  same  soil  and 

almost  the  same  people;  and  yet  mark  the  difference  between  the  two — the 

thrift  and  industry  of  the  one,  the  carelessness  and  laziness  of  the  other;  and 

what  is  the  reason  ?"     At  that  time  the  old  man,  impressed  with  the  evils  and 

dangers  of  slavery,  poured  his  counsel  into  the  willing  ears  of  the  younger 

statesman.     This  country,  over  which  we  have  been  flying  at  the  rate  of  thirty 

miles  an  hour,  is  a  far  better  country  in  all  the  capabilities  of  climate  and  soil 

than  either  Ohio  or  Pennsylvania.     Its  inexhaustible  and  varied  productions, 

its  tobacco,  its  corn,  its  wheat — these,  enough  to  supply  an  Empire,  are  literally 

31 


82 

as  nothing  to  the  great  cotton  crops  of  the  South,  which  here  begin  their  de- 
velopment, and  which,  within  the  last  three  years,  have  been  equal  to  nine 
hundred  millions  of  dollars.  As  I  write  they  are  gathering  in  their  wheat,  the 
corn  is  growing  into  tassel,  and  by  the  time  we  reach  New  Orleans,  to-morrow 
morning,  we  shall  doubtless  have  roasting  ears  on  our  table.  The  majestic 
forests  are  startling  in  their  massive  oaks  and  blossoming  chestnuts,  the  sure 
indications  of  a  fruitful  and  vigorous  soil,  while  in  the  fields  white  and  colored 
laborers  of  both  sexes  are  busy  attending  the  rapid  growth  of  that  staple  which, 
however  grown  elsewhere,  has  nowhere  been  produced  in  such  splendid  pro- 
fusion as  in  this  part  of  our  country.  Most  of  the  towns  through  which  we 
have  passed  show  signs  of  prosperity.  Jackson,  in  Tennessee,  beautiful  in  its 
fine  dwellings  and  handsome  grounds,  looks  like  a  watering-place,  and  is  evi- 
dently the  seat  of  cultivation  and  fashion  ;  while  Bolivar,  Grand  Junction, 
Humboldt,  Henry,  and  Paris  differ  from  most  of  the  towns  along  our  great 
highways  in  the  fact  that  they  are  rather  the  abodes  of  the  wealthy  than  of  the 
laboring  classes.  It  is  easy  to  see  as  we  study  these  signs  of  natural  wealth — 
these  promises  of  abundant  profit  to  the  landholder,  these  inexhaustive  woods, 
and  these  broad  fields,  this  genial  and  generous  climate — why  the  Southern 
people  were  such  stubborn  adversaries  when  they  finally  took  up  arms  against  the 
Government.  They  have  reason  to  be  proud  of  their  resources  and  their  advan- 
tages, and  no  Northern  man  can  reflect  upon  them  without  seeing  how  irresistible 
they  must  have  been  had  they  been  blessed  with  the  industry,  energy,  and,  let  me 
say  it,  the  intelligence  of  the  adhering  sections  of  the  Union.  The  master  race 
born  on  this  soil  were  accustomed  to  rule  the  producing  classes  they  relied  alone 
upon.  They  ignored  the  laboring  masses,  and  kept  them  as  so  many  millions 
of  aliens  in  the  midst  of  war.  Had  they  been  inspired  by  true  statesmanship 
they  would  have  begun  the  war  by  an  edict  of  emancipation,  and  so  maintained 
their  splendid  isolation.  What  this  region  needs  is  immigration,  but  this  im- 
migration never  will  come  until  those  who  control  society  decide  upon  the 
policy  which  is  making  the  solitudes  of  the  "West  populous,  and  building  new 
States  on  the  Pacific  slope.  It  needs  schools  and  churches,  a  free  press,  and  a 
robust  civilization. 

Foreigners  will  never  settle  down  where  these  advantages  are  not  as  liberal 
as  the  encasing  air.  Thus  will  it  be  as  long  as  those  who  work  to  make  the 
rich  richer  are  denied  the  privileges  of  cheap  and  useful  education.  Let  the 
South  open  its  doors  to  such  schools  as  strengthen  and  elevate  Massachusetts, 
Pennsylvania,  and  Ohio.  Let  it  substitute  for  whisky  lager  beer  and  cheap 
wine,  the  latter  of  which  it  can  grow  inexhaustibly.  Let  it  offer  to  men  the 
right  to  think  and  to  speak  as  they  please.  Until  these  are  done  there  can  be 
no  such  thing  as  a  steady  and  increasing  volume  of  immigration. 

A  gentleman  of  our  party  who  sympathized  with  the  rebellion,  and  who 
knows  the  South  "  as  the  seaman  knows  the  sea,"  after  the  war  invested  all  his 
fortune  in  Southern  lands  and  railroads.  Every  dollar  has  produced  two.  He 
looks  forward  to  the  period  when  he  will  reap  tenfold  what  he  put  in.  "  But," 


33 

he  says,  u  my  chief  disappointment  is  in  the  fact  that  these  people,  who  own  vast 
expanses  of  land,  hold  their  estates  too  high.  They  have  been' accustomed  to 
these  great  possessions  for  so  long  a  period,  and  are  such  monopolists  of  the  soil, 
that  they  cannot  see  how  they  stand  in  their  own  light.  They  cannot  realize 
even  as  they  cry  for  immigration  that  they  do  not  encourage  it,  and  that  when 
the  emigrant  conies — whether  it  be  from  our  own  States  or  from  Europe — and 
pays  five  dollars  an  acre,  instead  of  two  and  a  half,,  he  finds  himself  without 
society  and  without  assistance.  The  main  question  is  soon  presented  to  him 
wlu-tluT  he  shall  not  leave  for  a  region  where  he  can  find  encouragement  and 
schools,  and  newspapers  and  friends,  or  whether  he  shall  write  to  his  neighbors 
to  join  him.  In  most  cases  he  chooses  the  first  alternative.  If  the  great  land- 
holders would  offer  their  acres  as  clu-aply  as  the  acres  of  the  West  can  be  ob- 
tained— or,  indeed,  if  they  would  offer  a  large  portion  of  their  estates  free  to 
industrious  imini:_ rants  who  would  come  and  settle  down — their  property  would 
be  uii-i'ik  il.lv  ,11  >preciated.  As  it  is,  hundreds  of  miles  of  arable  land  is  left 
lying  fallow,  simply  for  want  of  immigration  to  develop  it. 

To-morrow  morning,  Deo  volcnte,  we  shall  be  in  New  Orleans,  and  the  day 
after  in  Texas.  I  hope  to  have  opportunities  to  write  before  my  return,  and 
show  y  'ii  that  f\«  ii  in  the  midst  of  a  great  political  excitement  there  are 
some  things  worthy  of  more  attention  than  party  conflicts. 


PN   THE   J^ARS,    IN    J^OUISIANA, 

11    I1.  M.,  .Inn,    14,  1872. 

Colonel  Thomas  A.  S»-.>rt  in  his  palace  car,  surrounded  by  his  friends,  is  very 
like  nan  at  home.     You  see  the  railroad  chief  at  his  best.     Although 

we  travel  at  the  rate  of  thirty  miles  an  hour,  we  live  as  comfortably  and  as 
pleasantly  as  at  the  best  hotel.  Conversation  is  easy  and  unconstrained.  We 
see  the  country  in  all  the  luxuriance  of  its  tropical  vegetation  from  the  en- 
closed platform  at  the  rear  of  the  car.  We  talk  to  the  people  who  crowd 
around  us  when  we  stop,  and  gather  much  information.  They  tell  us  of  the 
promise  of  great  crops  of  cotton,  wheat,  corn,  sugar,  oranges,  and  rice ;  they 
refer  to  th»>ir  increasing  trade  of  all  kinds;  they  discuss  politics  and  ask  ques- 
tions without  end;  and  they  are  all  glad  to  see  Colonel  Scott,  who  is  hailed 
everywhere  as  among  the  deliverers  of  the  Gulf  States  from  the  sloth  that 
M-  hung  over  them.  Texas  is  to  all  an  object  of  interest.  They 
:he  door  to  the  exhaustless  riches  of  Mexico,  and  they  believe 
Colonel  Scott  has  the  key  to  open  it.  They  argue,  and  not  unjustly,  that  if 
he  brings  the  same  genius  to  his  work  in  the  State  of  the  '•  Lone  Star  "  which 
has  revolutionized  Pennsylvania,  and  made  all  the  West  tributary  to  her,  he 
will  be  something  more  than  a  benefactor  to  a  region  which  has  neglected  so 
many  opportunities,  and  has  lost  by  a  cruel  rebellion  so  many  blessings. 


34 

It  is  at  the  beginning  of  another  great  railroad  triumph  that  we  may  dwell  a 
little  upon  some  of  the  achievements  of  John  Edgar  Thomson,  the  chief  of  the 
Pennsylvania  Railroad  and  its  dependencies,  and  the  career  of  his  daring  vice 
president,  Colonel  Thomas  A.  Scott. 

The  Pennsylvania  system  of  roads  commences  at  Philadelphia  with  a  line  from 
New  York  intersecting  at  Philadelphia,  and  a  line  from  Baltimore  and  Wash- 
ington intersecting  at  Harrisburg,  thence  diverging  to  Erie,  forming  connec- 
tions at  Erie  with  the  system  of  lakes  and  lake  shore  roads,  and  all  the  various 
connections  throughout  the  entire  Northwest.  The  main  line  of  the  Pennsyl- 
vania Railroad  extends  to  Pitrsburo:.  and  connects  at  that  point  with  all  the 
roads  now  under  the  control  of  the  Pennsylvania  Company,  a  corporation  which 
the  Pennsylvania  Railroad  Company  controls  by  the  ownership  of  its  stock. 
This  last  company  is  now  under  the  control  of  Colonel  Thomas  A.  Scott  as 
president,  who  still  retains  his  position  as  vice  president  of  the  parent  company 
at  Philadelphia.  The  Pennsylvania  Company  now  controls  all  the  lines  west 
of  Pittsburg  in  the  Pennsylvania  system. 

It  owns  the  road  to  Cincinnati  via  Columbus,  then  a  line  from  Columbus  to 
Louisville,  controls  a  line  from  St.  Louis,  and  another  from  Columbus  via 
Logansport  to  Chicago ;  also,  the  Pittsburg.  Fort  Wayne  and  Chicago,  direct 
to  Chicago,  the  Cleveland  and  Pittsburg  road,  from  Cleveland  to  Pittsburg,  and 
the  Erie  and  Pittsburg  road,  to  Erie.  These  various  lines,  with  their  branches 
to  Washington,  Pennsylvania,  the  Muskinguin  Valley  road,  and  their  branches 
from  the  several  main  lines,  now  aggregate  over  thirty-two  hundred  miles  of  road , 
all  connected,  and  all  equipped.  These,  when  addei  to  the  line  controlled  by 
the  Pennsylvania  Railroad  Company  east  of  Pittsburg,  embracing  1,384  miles, 
make  a  grand  aggregate  of  about  4,600  miles,  all  connected,  equipped,  and 
managed  under  one  interest,  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad,  of  which  John  Edgar 
Thomson  is  president,  and  were  built  from  the  time  he  took  charge  as  chief 
engineer  in  1847,  embracing  a  little  over  a  quarter  of  a  century  in  the  service  of 
the  company:  and  he  accomplished,  by  his  combination  of  roads,  a  result  that  has 
never  before  been  achieved  by  any  man  in  railroad  life.  During  all  that  period 
he  has  paid  his  stockholders  an  average  of  over  ten  per  cent,  per  annum. 

Those  of  us  who  can  recollect  the  bitter  conflict  that  marked  the  inaugura- 
tion of  this  grand  iron  network  of  important  highways,  will  congratulate  the 
South  that  the  genius  which  has  wrought  results  of  such  magnitude  is  now 
turned  to  the  completion  of  a  still  grander  series  of  continental  connections. 

We  have  been  traveling  for  the  last  twenty-four  hours  over  another  line 
lately  purchased  and  now  managed  by  another  citizen,  almost  of  Philadelphia — 
I  mean  Colonel  Henry  S.  McComb,  of  Wilmington,  Delaware.  The  close 
friend  of  Colonel  Scott,  he  seems  to  have  taken  him  for  his  model ;  and  it  is 
not  less  pleasing  to  know  that  they  are  working  in  noble  harmony  to  the  object- 
ive point  of  the  development  of  the  unparalleled  resources  of  the  South,  not 
alone  in  regard  to  her  connections  with  Mexico  by  land,  but  with  the  European 
nations  by  water.  Of  the  Southern  roads  owned  in  large  part  by  Colonel 


35 

McComb,  and  under  his  direction,  are  the  line  from  Jackson,  Tenn.,  to  Canton, 
Miss.,  229  miles;  the  line  from  Canton  to  New  Orleans,  206  miles;  from 
Grenada  to  Memphis,  100  miles;  all  completed  and  in  order.  He  has  also 
under  contract  a  line  from  Memphis  to  Paducah,  Ky.,  163  miles,  of  which  60 
are  finished  and  operating,  and  he  proposes  to  extend  his  line  from  Jackson, 
Tenn.,  to  Cairo,  111.,  108  miles.  Still  other  projects  are  on  foot  under  the  same 
bold  leadership.  I  dp  not  propose  to  define  or  classify  these  various  connec- 
tions. My  object  is  to  give  the  reader  some  general  idea  of  vast  results  accom- 
plished and  of  vast  preparations  for  still  grander  results.  The  mind  fairly  reels 
before  figures  and  facts  little  short  of  magic.  And  yet  as  we  grasp  them,  and 
me  familiar  with  them,  we  are  disciplined  for  the  still  more  extensive  sys- 
t'-m  under  which  thousands  of  acres  of  alluvial  soil  in  this  section,  which  have 
been  growing  richer  under  tin-  ne-l-et  of  ages,  will  be  populated  by  and  made 
ti>  I"  ir  endless  harvests  for  millions  of  men,  while  the  untold  and  untouched 
sico  will  be  turned  iut«>  tin-  channels  of  trade  as  a  new  inspiration 
for  the  elevation  and  improvement  of  the  nations  of  the  earth. 

I  perceive  from  the  perfume  of  the  jessamine  and  magnolia  as  it  pours 
the  windows  at  which  I  write,  that  we  are  rapidly  approaching  New 
Orleans,  and  I  throw  down  my  pen  and  rush  for  my  carpet-bag. 


PN  THE  MISSISSIPPI, 

June  15,  1872. 

Following  the  seasons  is  the  habit  of  the  valetudinarian.  In  Europe  many 
of  the  wealthy  live  in  perpetual  spring,  changing  from  climate  to  climate,  so  as 
to  avoid  the  extremes  of  heat  and  cold.  At  this  season  of  the  year,  when 
summer  may  be  said  to  reign  over  the  continent,  with  the  exceptional  relief  of 

ira  nii'l  the  White  M-.untaius,  a  nut  to  Texas  is  the  last  thing  that  would 
be  recommended;  and  therefore  when  we  left  Philadelphia  we  anticipated 
nothing  but  extreme  heat  in  the  Gulf  States,  and  were  not  unprepared  for  the 
malaria,  but,  s«i  far,  have  enjoyed  the  most  delightful  breezes,  exquisite  weather 
which  prevailed  in  Philadelphia  since  the  first  of  June  following  us  to  New 
Orleans,  and  when  we  completed  our  sixteen  hundred  miles  and  rode  through 
perl'  s  of  magnolias,  palms,  oleanders,  and  other  tropical  trees,  we  were 

;Jed  by  a  wholesome  shower,  which  laid  the  dust  and  cooled  the  atmosphere, 
ur  sleeping  car  rolled  out  of  the  depot  at  West  Philadelphia  last  Wed- 
nesday noon,  the  wheat  was  jast  starting  into  head,  the  oats  about  a  foot  high, 
and  the  corn  in  many  places  not  more  than  six  inches ;  but  as  we  approached 
the  South  vegetation  seemed  to  grow  with  every  mile.  As  we  crossed  into 
Kentucky  the  laborers  were  cultivating  tobacco  in  the  fields.  In  Tennessee  and 

->i|>pi  we  began  with  the  cotton  plant,  and  as  the  train  passed  into 
Louisiana  we  saw  the  firstlings  of  the  sugar  cane,  which  multiplied  until  the 
vast  expanses  were  covered  with  the  growth;  soon,  interspersed  with  orange 


36 

groves  and  trees  hanging  with  bananas,  ripe  apricots,  wild  plums,  and  the 
luscious  fig,  were  the  prevailing  fruit.  The  corn  that  we  left  in  Pennsylvania 
a  few  inches  high  was  here  in  silk  and  tassel,  the  wheat  was  being  garnered, 
and  at  the  great  restaurant  of  Moreau  roasting-eass  were  served  to  epicurean 
guests.  Cantelopes  of  a  rich  flavor,  unknown  in  Philadelphia,  are  seen  at  every 
meal. 

New  Orleans  is  itself  a  tropical  and  almost  an  Oriental  city,  in  many  respects 
recalling  Paris — especially  in  the  French  quarter — by  its  open-windowed 
restaurants,  its  foreign  names  and  amusements,  and  its  Babel  of  languages. 
Colonel  Scott  drove  us  to  the  old  Spanish  Cathedral,  near  Jackson  Square.  We 
walked  in  without  interruption,  and  found  the  votive  floral  offerings  of  the 
worshipers  laid  on  the  altars ;  rich  and  poor,  white  and  colored,  kneeling  before 
them,  and  the  whole  place  sacred  with  the  peculiar  incense  and  recollections  of 
a  Church  whose  rites  and  traditions  come  down  to  us  from  the  mists  of  antiquity 
and  numbers  more  members  than  any  other  Christian  denomination.  Whatever 
may  be  said  of  the  Romish  Church,  this  at  least  is  true,  that  its  adherents 
compel  us  to  believe  in  their  sincerity,  while  their  increasing  numbers  attest  the 
tenacity  of  its  existence  and  the  popularity  of  its  ministration. 

Jackson  Square  is  a  gem  of  its  kind — its  variety  of  evergreens  and  foliage 
cut  and  trimmed  into  every  fantastic  French  shape,  including  the  box,  arbor 
vitae,  magnolia,  pomegranate,  oleander,  crape  myrtle,  banana,  sago  palm,  the 
fig,  the  orange  and  lemon,  and  many  more  specimens  of  tropical  floriculture.  In 
the  centre,  mounted  on  a  massive  granite  pedestal,  stands  an' equestrian  bronze 
statue  of  Old  Hickory,  by  Clark  Mills,  with  this  brief  inscription  :  "  The  Union 
must  and  shall  be  preserved" — speaking  the  fulfillment  of  his  own  glorious 
prophecy,  and  a  ponderous  rebuke,  from  the  grave  itself,  of  the  men  who 
attempted  its  contradiction. 

Within  a  few  blocks  was  a  curious  cemetery — at  least  curious  to  our  eyes — a 
cemetery  with  the  vaults — if  I  may  use  the  phrase — above  ground,  owing  to  the 
porous  character  of  the  soil.  It  was  an  odd  sight  to  see  the  cenotaphs,  crypts, 
mausoleums,  and  stone  caskets,  encasing  so  many  of  the  honored  dead  of  New 
Orleans,  towering  high  above  the  railing  itself,  and  in  some  cases  almost  reaching 
the  level  of  the  surrounding  buildings.  We  walked  through  this  city  of  sepulchres, 
read  the  inscriptions — many  of  them  in  French — carved  upon  the  tombs,  and 
startled  at  the  lizards,  which  seemed  to  be  in  safe  possession  of  the  solitude. 

Not  less  curious  was  the  French  market,  with  its  customers  of  both  colors  in 
bizarre  dresses,  all  conversing  volubly,  and  reviving  the  quaint  pictures  of  the 
old  Gallic  towns. 

But  what  a  wonderful  place  is  the  levee — the  magnificent  quay  stretching 
along  several  miles  on  the  river  front,  with  castellated  steamers  at  the  wharves, 
shouting  stevedores  loading  them  with  cotton,  iron,  and  sugar,  and  the  broad 
bosom  of  the  yellow  Mississippi  covered  with  little  craft  of  all  kinds,  filled  with 
passengers  and  wares,  trading  to  and  between  the  opposite  shores  and  neigh- 
boring towns,  and  this,  too,  at  the  dullest  season  of  the  year !  Trade  opens  in 


3T 

autumn  and  continues  through  the  winter,  lasting  to  March  and  April.     Then 

•Munificent  levee  presents  a  most  boisterous  scene. 

The  Messrs.  Bigley  carried  our  party  along  the  shores  in  a  steam-tug  to  the 

battle-field  of  New  Orleans  and  to  the  Jackson  Barracks,   where   we   found 

General  Sully,  the  son  of  the  venerated  Philadelphia  artist,   Thomas  Sully, 

.  in  command,  from  whom  we  received  a  hearty  welcome.     From  our  little 

uer  we  realized  why  New  Orleans  is  called  the  Crescent  City.     The  wharf 

extends  in  a  complete  semi-circle,  ami  presents  a  unique  sight.  From  the  tug-boat 

Nellie  we  boarded  the  gigantic  steamer  James  Howard,  Capt.  V.  R.  Pegram, 

:  o  we  are  now  handsomely  quartered  in  her  splendid  state-rooms,  and  rapidly 

mouth  of  Red  river.     There  we  take  another 

boar.  ».  3,  which  is  to  carry  us  up  Red  river  over  five  hundred  miles  to 

the  initial  point  of  the  Texas  and  Pacific  Railroad,  where  President  Scott  and 
>i!le  M.  Dod,  ngineer,  will  commence  a  careful   survey 

ie  route. 

But  let  me  take  you  \>  v  starting  point,  and  first  for  a  brief  sketch  of 

ress  of  steam    i  u  on    the   Father   of  Waters.     It  is 

refreshing  to  note  that  in  the  history  of  steam  navigation  the  glory  of  success- 
fully introducing  the  steamboat  is  everywhere  awarded  to  Robert  Fulton,  of 
Lancaster  county,  Pen  r  the  judgment  of  the  first  London 

Exposition  of  1851  is  printed  here  in  the  written  record  of  the  progress  of 
ni'-dern  commerce  on  the  n<>  r  in  the  world.  Let  me  recall  the  words 

of  this  judgment  to  my  Pennsylvania  readers,  and  let  me  add  the  hope  that  the 
of  Lancaster  county   in    i'hiladelphia   will  take  early  steps  to  erect 
such  a  monument  <  in  our  surpassing  Fuirmount  Park  as  will  be  one  of 

the  finest  ornaments  of  the  Centennial  commemoration,  and,  at  the  same  time, 
an  enduring  evidence  of  the  gratitude  of  his  Lancaster-county  posterity: 

There  were  mm  in  various  countries  who  claimed  the  honor  of  having 

-  to  be  pi  tu,  but  it  is  to  the  undaunted  perseve- 

rance and  exertions  of  the  A  Fulton  that  is  due  the  everlasting  honor  of 

lufving  produced  this  revolution,  both  in  naval  architecture  and  navigation. 

at  the  same  time,  let  me  recall  his  almost  inspired  prophecy  as  he  rode 
in  a  stage  over  the  Alle_rh:my  Mountains  in  1811 :  "  The  day  will  come,  gentle- 
men," he  said — "  I  may  not  live  to  see  it,  though  some  of  you  who  are  younger 
will  probably — when  carriages  will  be  drawn  over  these  mountains  by  steam 
en-ines,  at  a  rate  more  rapid  than  that  of  a  stage  on  the  smoothest  turnpike." 
\v  the  twinkle  of  Colonel  Scott's  bright  eye  when  I  read  him  this  passage, 
especially  after  he  had  just  been  telling  me  that  even  the  heaviest  trains  had 
been  whirled  along  these  majestic  heights  at  the  rate  of  thirty  miles  an  hour. 

amboat  navigation  on  the  Western  waters  commenced  in  March,  1817. 
The  steamer  "  Washington,"  built  at  Wheeling,  Va.,  400  tons,  ran  from  Louis- 
ville to  New  Orleans  and  back  in  45  days.  Now  the  round  trip  is  made  in 
fourteen.  I  have  not  time  in  this  hasty  letter  to  refer  to  the  achievements  of 
Robert  L.  Stevens,  Captain  John,  Ericsson,  Daniel  Drew,  E.  K.  Collins,  Van- 
derbilt,  Roberts,  Webb,  Garrison,  Stockton,  and  others  on  our  Eastern  waters. 


38 

I  am  writing  to  you  now  of  our  Western  rivers.  The  great  field  for  building 
up  a  line  of  steamboats  has  always  been  along  these  waters,  and  though  it  is 
predicted  that  the  time  is  coming  when  passengers  will  be  almost  exclusively 
carried  by  rail,  water  must  ever  be  the  cheapest  means  of  transporting  freight, 
Pittsburg  and  Cincinnati  have  been  the  chief  manufacturing  cities  of  the 
Western  Steamboats,  including  their  magnificent  engines,  while  Madison, 
Jefferson  City,  and  New  Albany,  Indiana,  have  also  become  famous  therefor. 
The  builder  after  whom  this  splendid  palace  is  named,  James  Howard,  has 
turned  out  from  his  slip  at  Madison,  Indiana,  400  steamboats.  The  Howard  is 
believed  to  possess  greater  capacities  than  any  steamer  on  this  continent.  Her 
hull  is  330  feet,  breadth  of  beam  55  feet,  depth  of  hold  10  feet,  extreme  width 
06  feet,  carrying  capacity  3,400  tons,  although  4,000  tons  may  easily  be  freighted 
on  her.  Her  machinery  consists  of  two  main  engines  with  34£-feet  cylinders, 
10-feet  stroke  of  piston;  water-wheels  39  feet  diameter;  six  boilers  30  feet  long 
and  46  inches  diameter.  The  state-rooms  are  superb,  containing  large  bedsteads, 
wardrobes,  and  washstands,  with  every  convenience  of  bed-chambers  at  home, 
The  dining-room  is  a  gorgeous  saloon,  and  is  upholstered  and  decorated  in  a 
style  equal  to  that  of  poor  Fisk's  gaudy  Sound  boats.  Captain  Pegram,  the 
master  of  this  palace,  fought  in  the  Confederate  war,  and  it  is  pleasant  to  hear 
him  relate,  especially  as  I  did  this  morning  at  his  breakfast  table,  his  fierce  con- 
tests with  John  M.  Buffinger,  president  of  the  New  Orleans  Packet  Company 
who  had  as  bravely  served  on  the  other  side,  and  their  many  hair-breadth  'scapes 
from  the  Union  and  Confederate  fleets  and  armies.  Intermingled  with  his 
anecdotes  were  the  experiences  of  Colonel  Scott,  who  came  down  here  as.Assist- 
ant  Secretary  of  War,  and  General  Dodge,  who  fought  all  through  the  Gulf 
States  as  one  of  the  ablest  of  Sherman's  captains  Our  breakfast  will  pass  into 
a  sort  of  history,  which  to  me  will  remain  unforgotten. 

And  it  is  due  to  Captain  Pegram  to  say  that  his  breakfast  would  have  excited 
the  envy  of  your  Philadelphia  Augustin  or  New  York  Delmonico.  Besides  all 
the  Northern  delicacies,  we  had  the  fresh  fish  of  these  waters,  with  novel  names 
to  me ;  sheepshead  broiled,  soft-shell  crabs,  ripe  cantelopes,  snowy  rice,  fried 
plantain,  aromatic  coffee,  and  fragrant  claret  to  crown  the  whole.  If  he  gives 
such  breakfasts  to  all  his  guests  he  ought  to  be  elected  President  of  the  Caterers. 

Now  let  me  take  you  back  to  the  scene  along  the  Mississippi.  We  left  New 
Orleans  about  six  o'clock  in  the  evening,  and  from  the  hurricane  deck  surveyed 
the  picture  on  both  shores — first  in  the  lovely  twilight  and  by  the  light  of  a 
surpassing  sunset,  and  then  as  the  moon  took  up  "  the  wondrous  tale  "  in  her 
cool  and  lucid  beams.  Here  were  the  seats  of  the  aristocracy  of  the  past. 
Here  were  their  great  sugar  estates  and  orange  groves ;  here  the  huts  of  their 
former  slaves ;  here  the  source  and  centre  of  that  endless  harvest  which  made 
them  proud  and  powerful.  They  complain  still,  although  the  soil  is  generous 
— more  generous  than  any  other  part  of  God's  footstool.  Thousands  of  acres 
are  planted  with  sugar-oane,  with  the  promise  of  great  riches,  at  this  time 

89  longer  esclusiveiv  $eir  own,  ::ong  tfrc  posterity  0f  $• 


39 

who  had  worked  for  them  for  centuries  without  compensation.  Every  few 
hundred  yards  we  came  upon  one  of  these  estates — in  the  centre  a  stately  man- 
sion flanked  by  smaller  tenements  and  magnolia  and  orange  trees,  while  above 
towered  aged  oaks  and  cotton  wood,  •.  d  by  clusters  of  shining  foliage 

and  every  conceivable  variety  of  tropical  flowers      The  circuitous  course  of  the 
pi    is  not  the  lensr  wonders.     After  having  traversed  many 

miles  we  looked  back  and  seemed  to  return  to  New  Orleans  and  were  almost 
directly  id  trace  by  the  black  smoke  of  the  departing  craft. 

'  Rouge  we  landed  a  number  of  colored  deleLMtcs  to  the  Republican 

which  assembles  on  the  l!)th  inst.     A  little  incident  occurred 

thin  \iter  1   had    just  ari-  r  and  early  view  of  the 

-ippi.  a  colored   man  passed  the  door  of  my  stateroom. 

I  asked  him  '  (uietly  replied:  "Your 

•'iral,  but  1  ;u7i   not   conn.  ••TI  •!  with    the  boat;   lama  delegate  to 

republican  State  (Convention,  but  I  will  gladly  do  your  errand."     I  made 

a  prompt  apology,  and  then  introduced  my^  It.  upon  which,  with  many  expres- 

-  of  kiiidn  ft  me  and  Boon  with  the  ice  wat«>r  and  a  number 

of  hi  i  IB,      1 1. TO  I  had  another  evidence  of  the  aptitude  and  good  sense 

r  the  past,  not  the  less  agreeable  be- 

•>  two  of  them   kn  iladclphia  and  one  of  them  had  just  come  on 

vention,  and  we  talked  over  the  present,  and  if  I  had 
•rs  of  the  success  of  the  Republican  party  in  Louisiana  they  pa 
away  before  the  clear  and  candid  explanations  of  these  men.     "  Why,  sir,"  said 
one  of  them,  "alth  re  a  few  colored  people  in  New  Orleans  that  may 

w  bad  adviser-  one  in  th«  who  will  not  vote  for  Grant, 

and  Wilson.     In  every  house  owned  or  rented  or  occupied  by  a  colored  man 
you  will  find  three  likenesses — Abraham  Lincoln,  Ulysses  S.  Grant,  and  Oscar 
deceased  Lieutenur,  nor  of  the  State.     If  the  whole  Demo- 

cratic party  and  all  the  men  with  Governor  Warmouth  go  together  and  rally 
their  forces  we  can  still  u-ive  from  fifteen  to  twenty  thousand  majority  for  Grant." 
I  this,  after  a  careful  survey  of  the  field,  is  my  own  opinion.     The  truth  is, 
presence  of  the  National  Government  is  felt  in  its  unrivaled  currency,  in 
its  post-office  facilities,  in  its  management  of  commerce,  navigation,  and  manu- 
md  in  the  protection  of  travel,  and  these,  supplemented  by  the  recent 
enforcement  act,  operate  upon  every  class — upon  the  laborer  and  the  freedman, 
and  upon  the  capitalist — even  upon  those  who  would  like  to  vote  for  Greeley  if 
they  did  not  dread  a  change.     Nowhere  are  these  things  so  frequently  seen  and 
so  constantly  experienced  as  in  the  Gull'  > 

And  now  we  have  reached  the  mouth  of  Red  river,  and  have  taken  farewell 
of  Captain  Pegram  and  his  hospitalities.     Camped  in  a  lovely  grove  of  cotton- 
wood,  oak,  willow,  and  maple,  we  await  the  arrival  of  our  other  steamer,  Lotus 
i,  and  watch  the  setting  sun,  with  a  dim  apprehension  that  we  are  to  meet, 
a  friendly  colony  of  mosquitoes,  who  are  said  to  be  populous  in  this  quarter.     T 
1  could  sing  with  Hamlet— "  Then  as  strangers  give  them  wel< 


40 

STEAMER   LOTUS   No.  3, 

June  IS,  1872. 

A  Red  River  steamboat  is  a  peculiar  institution ;  and  "  Lotus  No.  3,"  the 
name  of  the  vessel  which  is  our  present  habitation,  is  a  fair  specimen  of  South- 
ern habits  and  manners.  It  differs  from  the  colossal  James  Howard,  described 
in  my  last,  as  a  cottage  differs  from  the  Continental  Hotel.  The  one  is  a  gay 
palace,  and  the  other  a  domestic  home:  and  I  do  simple  justice  when  I  say 
that  "  Lotus  No.  3  "  surpasses  its  more  gigantic  rival,  especially  in  its  quiet 
discipline  and  the  variety  of  its  cuisine  Its  three  daily  meals  would  do  credit 
to  the  most  pretentious  Eastern  steamer.  Those  who  come  here  expecting  a 
rude  and  boisterous  crowd  are  surprised  by  the  refinement  and  delicacy  of  the 
ladies,  the  frankness  and  courtesy  of  the  gentlemen,  and  the  unusual  order 
throughout.  "We  have  the  New  Orleans  Base-ball  Club  on  board,  en  route  for 
Shreveport,  Caddo  county,  which  is  the  last  Louisiana  town  on  this  long  and 
crooked  river. 

A  better-behaved  and  more  exemplary  set  of  youngsters  I  never  saw.  When 
the  boat  stops  to  wood,  which  operation  consumes  about  half  an  hour,  the  boys 
run  out  on  the  banks  and  exercise  themselves  preparatory  to  the  struggle  which 
is  to  take  place  between  them  and  the  Shreveport  clubs.  Now  and  then  there 
is  a  rush  to  the  guards  and  decks  to  see  the  alligators,  which  frequently  crawl 
out  on  the  beach,  .and  although  they  are  plain  targets  for  the  marksmen,  and 
shots  are  frequently  fired  at  them,  they  invariably  escape. 

"  What  is  the  meaning,"  you  will  ask,  "  of  '  Lotus  No.  3  ?'  "  I  put  this 
question  to  one  of  the  officers  and  he  replied,  il  You  see  our  Captain  Daniels 
has  had  three  of  these  boats  of  the  same  name.  Two  of  them  are  on  what  may 
be  called  the  retired  list — one  laid  up  for  repairs,  and  the  other  running  on  a 
different  service — and  this  is  Lotus  No.  3.  There  is  the  Era  No.  13,  owned 
by  Gr.  L.  Koons  &  Co.,  all  of  its  predecessors  having  shared  the  fate  of  Lotus 
Nos.  1  and  2."  I  write  this  in  the  cabin.  The  weather  is  about  the  tempera- 
ture of  a  Philadelphia  July  day,  and  yet  the  breeze  made  by  the  boat  renders 
it  tolerable.  At  one  end  of  the  saloon  is  a  piano  surrounded  by  ladies,  who  are 
playing  and  singing;  at  the  other  is  a  likeness  of  "  massa  "  Robert  E.  Lee,  the 
office  on  his  right  and  the  bar  on  his  left.  Tables  are  scattered  in  the  space 
between,  upon  one  of  which  gentlemen  are  writing,  and  Colonel  Scott  and  some 
friends  playing  euchre  at  another. 

We  are  now  more  than  two  thousand  miles  from  Philadelphia,  and  expect  to 
reach  Shreveport  day  after  to-morrow.  The  boat  moves  rapidly  and  easily, 
without  the  slighest  jar.  She  is  a  four-hundred  tonner,  with  accommodations 
for  fifty  passengers ;  but  on  this  trip  she  is  overcrowded,  there  being  about 
eighty  passengers  on  board,  which  makes  it  necessary  to  convert  the  saloon  at 
night  into  a  dormitory — one  layer  of  men  occupying  the  floor,  and  a  tier 
of  cots  placed  a  few  feet  above  them.  The  passage  from  New  Orleans  is 
twenty  dollars,  and  the  distance  to  Jefferson,  where  the  boat  stops,  is  896 


41 

miles.  The  navigable  extent  of  the  river  is  about  twelve  hundred  miles.  The 
Lotus  moves  about  seven  miles  an  hour — a  slow  progress  to  those  of  us  who 
make  quick  use  of  our  time  at  our  own  homes,  and  who  often  turn  the  night 
into  day  in  the  rush  of  business. 

Considering  the  season  we  have  had  very  remarkable  weather,  and  strange  to 
say,  as  yet,  no  mosquitoes. 

What  impresses  me,  among  other  things  in  this  novel  region,  are  the  kindly 
relations  between  whites  and  blacks.  I  have  not  heard  a  syllable  of  secession- 
ism.  All  the  people  are  glad  to  see  Northern  men ;  all  are  anxious  for 
immigration  and  capital,  and  really  they  present  tempting  inducements.  Some 
of  the  finest  sugar,  cotton,  and  corn  plantations  are  offered  as  low  as  five  dollars 
an  acre ;  and  when  we  consider  that  this  is  a  region  literally  without  winter, 
and  that  the  soil  is  the  most  productive  on  the  earth  and  the  general  health  as 
good  as  elsewhere,  we  should  be  surprised  that  so  many  hundreds  of  thousands 
of  acres  have  lain  dormant  for  centuries,  if  we  did  not  remember  the  prejudices 
of  slavery  and  the  habits  still  existing  which  have  grown  out  of  that  institution. 
Every  intelligent  man  I  converse  with  admits  that  these  prejudices  will  require 
;ist  a  generation  to  cure,  but  they  point  with  pride  to  the  improvement  of 
the  negro  since  emancipation  and  the  ballot,  and  quietly  extract  from  this  t-i.-t 
the  ultimate  population  of  their  now  deserted  plantations  and  their  own  certain 
future  redemption.  So  much  for  the  negro  ! 

An  intelligent  Democratic  lawyer  of  Shreveport  told  me  this  morning  that  he 
could  see  the  negro  improving  with  every  day.  He  was  not  only  a  better 
family  man  but  a  better  citizen  and  a  better  workman,  and  far  more  ambitious 
in  all  the  walks  of  life. 

•li- T  thing  strikes  the  stranger:  the  readiness  with  which  these  people 
undertake  long  journeys  of  four  or  five  hundred  to  one  thousand  miles.  \\ '•• 
consider  it  something  of  a  trial  to  go  to  Pittsburg,  355  miles  from  Philadelphia, 
and  as  many  preparations  are  frequently  made  to  visit  New  York  as  for  a  voyage 
to  Europe ;  but  here  a  lady  takes  her  family  and  a  few  changes  of  clothing 
and  goes  up  to  St.  Lmis  or  Louisville,  a  distance  of  1,200  or  1,500  miles  from 
New  Orleans,  or  to  Shreveport,  Louisiana,  or  Jefferson,  Texas,  a  distance  of  7 00 
or  900  miles,  as  pleasantly  as  if  she  were  visiting  her  friends  in  the  country. 

Another  feature  is  the  absence  of  what  may  be  called  the  middle  class.  Here 
the  traveling  public  is  mostly  composed  of  the  so-called  gentry — the  old  slave- 
holders. With  us  in  the  North  everybody  is  on  the  rail,  rich  or  poor ;  here  the 
poor  whites,  like  the  poor  blacks,  are  compelled  to  work  for  their  living  on  the 
plantations  and  to  stay  at  home. 

Wonderful,  most  wonderful  is  the  foliage  along  the  banks  of  Red  river — 
wild,  luxuriant,  and  dense !  A  farm-house  or  log-cabin  is  rarely  seen.  The 
tortuous  current,  the  crumbling  banks,  a  soil  fertile,  and  without  a  single 
boulder  or  rock  for  a  thousand  miles,  are  objects  of  interest  to  geologists.  Now 
the  river  spreads  out  its  red  waters  as  broad  as  the  Delaware  at  its  widest,  and 
now  again  it  is  condensed  into  such  narrow  limits  that  a  boat  can  hardly  push 
I 


42 

its  wa^  through.  G-reat  tall  cotton-wood,  oak,  and  willow  trees  shoot  up  on 
eithei  side,  and  the  finest  cattle  are  seen  grazing  in  the  shade. 

The  scenes  that  take  place  when  the  boat  stops  to  receive  her  fire-wood  are 
full  of  interest,  Negroes  dart  out  from  the  lowe»  hold  stripped  to  the  waist; 
each  shoulders  three  or  four  sticks,  while  the  passengers  amuse  themselves  by 
firing  at  marks  or  walking  along  the  mossy  banks.  This  fuel  sells  at  $2.50  a 
cord,  and  is  one  of  the  chief  expenses  of  fhe  boat. 

The  first  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  of  Red  river  are  almost  entirely  devoid 
of  interest.  The  banks  are  rugged  and  the  course  of  the  stream  changes  almost 
every  year.  It  is  not  an  uncommon  thing  to  see  great  groups  of  trees  which 
have  sunk  into  the  water,  and  the  low,  marshy  grounds  seem  to  extend  back  a 
long  distance.  The  gunpowder  willow  grows  most  luxuriantly,  and  the  Ameri- 
can trumpet  flower,  with  its  scarlet  blossoms  and  graceful  foliage,  twines  around 
the  thick  undergrowth.  Very  seldom  are  the  magnolia  and  palm  seen  in  this 
locality,  although  the  crape  myrtle  appears  in  nearly  every  little  garden  attached 
to  the  humblest  negro  hut. 

Alexandria,  Louisiana,  350  miles  from  New  Orleans,  and  half  way  to 
Shreveport,  is  situated  on  a  high  and  commanding  bluff,  and  was  a  thriving 
city  before  the  war.  The  Military  State  University  was  here  located,  and 
General  W.  T.  Sherman  was  the  superintendent  up  to  1861.  Alexandria  was  a 
central  depot  for  corn,  cotton,  and  sugar,  whence  it  was  shipped  to  New  Orleans 
and  other  points,  and  had  large  warehouses  and  comfortable  dwelling-houses. 
The  institute  building  was  accidently  destroyed  by  fire  some  two  years  since, 
and  the  students  are  now  educated  at  Baton  Rouge. 

When  the  war  broke  out  early  in  1861,  General  Sherman,  knowing  full  well 
that  the  Southern  people  intended  to  fight,  wrote  a  strong  letter  to  his  brother, 
Senator  John  Sherman,  at  Washington,  in  which  he  avowed  his  determination, 
with  many  expressions  of  kindness  for  the  people  among  whom  he  lived,  to 
stand  by  the  old  flag,  and  offered  his  services  to  the  Government.  Senator 
Sherman  showed  me  this  letter,  which  I  had  the  honor  to  take  to  Mr.  Lincoln, 
and  soon  after  General  Sherman  was  called  to  that  field  which  he  has  since  made 
so  resplendent  by  his  genius  and  his  patriotism. 

The  farther  we  progress  into  this  interesting  country  the  more  we  realize  the 
fatal  influence  of  the  political  heresies  taught  by  Mr.  Calhoun  and  adopted  by 
the  Democratic  leaders  of  other  days.  Hostility  to  internal  improvements, 
originating  in  the  South  and  finally  incorporated  into  the  Democratic  platforms, 
has  wrought  incalculable  disaster,  especially  to  the  Gulf  States.  Had  one  man 
like  Stephen  A.  Douglas  taken  the  responsibility  and  insisted  that  the  General 
Government  should  encourage  national  development  by  railroads,  by  liberal 
appropriations  to  rivers  and  harbors,  and  by  all  the  other  means  essential  to  the 
attraction  of  foreign  emigration  to  these  neglected  solitudes,  unquestionably  this, 
the  most  delightful  and  fruitful  of  any  portion  of  the  Union,  would  now  be 
occupied  by  an  industrious  and  enterprising  people.  Judge  Douglas,  it  will  be 
recollected,  literally  exhausted  himself  to  secure  appropriations  of  public  lands 


43 

:> 

for  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad — a  work  which,  while  enriching  all  concerned 
in  it,  left  him  poor  indeed,  and  almost  forgotten  by  the  State  of  which  he  was 
the  chief  benefactor. 

It  is  due  to  Jefferson  D:i  iy  that  he  did  his  best  to  carry  forward  the 

t  work  now  in  the  hands  of  Tolonel  Scott,  a  Pacific  road  over  the  32d 
parallel.  Hut  it  is  not  less  true  that  after  he  laid  tho  foundation  of  what  would 
undoubtedly  have  been  the  redemption  of  thin  people,  ho  led  them  into 
the  war  which  brought  ruin  to  them  and  compelled  the  construction  of  the 
middle  or  central  route,  known  as  the  I'lii-.u  Pacific  Railroad. 

>  note,  as  we  approach  the  Texan  frontier,  'now  much   the 
people    have  suffered   in   consequence  of  the    ideas  of  Calhoun 
M.-hool.      !  i   eommu'  Minded   by  the   richest   of  God's 

\veen  seven  and  nine  hundred   miles  distant  IV  <  )rlca ns,  with- 

out I  <'tn  with  their  commercial  capital  and  with  other 

Southern  States  and  cities,  and  with  the  great  Kastern  markets  ;  and  yet  such 
:id  have  been  bl  than  the  Pennsylvania  (Central 

twenty  years  ago.     The  country  between  Shreveport  and  X  w  <  )rleans  is  a! 
a  de  iron    highway  could  be  constructed  at  about  half  the 

cost    of  md    yet    not    a   spade    has   been    struck, 

several  charters  have  been  gra:  •  who!,.  ,,}'  Northern  T 

in  ia  dependent  upon  the  Ked  lliver  and  t1 

1  '  •n-imiii)'j;  four  days  and 

a  half,  when,  by  utili/.in_c  their  resources,  and  by  combining  their  enemies,  they 

Inn  twenty-four  ho?, 

ii  >rrow  evening,  which  n>  1  to  be  the 

-.1   work,   the  Texas  ami    Pacific   Railroad, 

although,  un«l  rms  of  the  act   ..f  M ar-ha!!,  Harrison  county, 

is  tho  initial  point 

(uently  asked  how  Cnl.mel  Seott  is  to  reach  New  Orleans, 

Viek'l.urg,  Cairo,  is,  etc. — in   other  words,  how  is  he  to  perfect  his 

•onnections?     Congress  and  the  Legislature  of  Texas  have  answered 
i.y  d. mating  an  immense  body  of  public  lands  to  the  New  Orleans, 
Baton  Rouge  and  Vicksburg  Railroad,  extending  from  Shreveport  to  the  latter 
ns  a  part  of  the  _T-  at  Texas  and  Pacific  Railroad.     Of  this  improvement 
Senator  Pomeroy,  of  Kansas,  IB  president,  and  George  W.  Cochran,  of  New 
Orleans,  vice  president.     1.  >rrths  of  the  five  years  allotted  for  its  com- 

pK-tiou  have  el  ipsed,  and  nothing  has  been  done,  although  Caddo,  of  which 
veport  is  the  county  seat,  has  voted  half  a  million  to  this  work,  and  will  be 
ready  to  pay  it  the  moment  the  work  is  fairly  commenced.  It  is  of  vital  im- 
portance that  the  persons  who  have  seized  this  franchise  should  be  compelled 
by  some  process  to  begin  it  at  the  earliest  moment. 


CLIMATE  AND  WONDERFUL  RESOURCES  OP  THE  STATE— 280,000  MILES  OF  ARABLE 
LAND— HOMES  AND  WEALTH  FOR  MILLIONS — DESCRIPTION  OF  SHREYEPORT,  LA. — 
THE  "  TEXAS  AND  PACIFIC  RAILWAY  COMPANY  " — THE  COUNTRY  IT  TRAVERSES — 
HEAYY  TRAFFIC  ASSURED — A  MOST  PROFITABLE  ENTERPRISE— COLONEL  THOMAS 
A.  SCOTT  UNLOCKING  THE  TREASURES  OF  AN  EMPIRE. 


SHREVEPORT,     LOUISIANA, 

June  19,  1872. 

Twenty-three  hundred  miles  from  Philadelphia  since  this  day  week,  dis- 
counted by  half  a  day  in  New  Orleans  and  seven  hours  at  the  mouth  of  Red 
river,  and  yet  we  are  just  at  the  beginning  of  our  journey  over  the  line  of  the 
Texas  and  Pacific  Railroad,  and  just  on  the  borders  of  the  "  Lone  Star."  We 
boast  of  our  great  Middle  States;  but  what  are  they  to  the  vast  expanses  of 
Louisiana  and  Texas  ?  What  are  they  to  such  inland  seas  as  the  Mississippi 
and  the  Missouri  ?  Secretary  Boutwell  stated  in  one  of  his  speeches  in  1868, 
that  the  whole  forty  millions  of  the  population  of  the  United  States  could  be 
thrown  into  Texas,  and  that  Texas  would  then  be  no  more  crowded  than  Massa- 
chusetts is  to-day  !  It  has  a  territory  of  280,000  miles  of  arable  land,  with 
many  millions  of  acres  in  the  valley  of  the  Rio  Grande,  pronounced  by  travelers 
the  Italy  of  America ;  and  a  recent  writer  adds  that  it  is  capable  of  supporting 
a  population  of  one  hundred  millions  without  the  least  inconvenience — a  strik- 
ing argument  in  favor  of  emigration  to  Texas.  I  copy  the  following  from  that 
capital  work,  "  The  Texas  Almanac  for  1871,"  published  by  Richardson  &  Co., 
at  Gralveston,  Texas : 

Most  of  our  readers  will  probably  remember  Father  Nugent' s  visit  to  Texas 
almost  a  year  ago.  Texans  have  been  placed  under  obligations  to  him  for  the  very 
favorable  opinion  he  has  given  of  the  State,  both  in  his  speeches  and  letters  on 
various  occasions.  On  his  return  to  England  the  following  short  paragraph  ap- 
peared in  the  Catholic  Times  of  Liverpool : 

44 


45 

"  MANCHESTER,  July  27,  1871. 
"I  read  Father  Nugent's  letter  in  your  paper  of  last  Saturday,  showing  what  a 

poor  man  with  three  lads  mi^ht  do  in  Texas.  Like  Martin  Browne,  I  have  a  young 

.iy,  but  not  seventy  pounds.    The  fact  is,  all  I  can  muster  in  the  world  is  about 

pounds.     My  mind  is  made  up  to  emigrate,  but  where  to  go  is  the  question. 

e  people  tell  me  the  Western  States  offer  the  best  market  for  a  poor  man's 

i,  and  that  Nebraska  is  a  place.     Father  Nugent  ought  to  know  what 

he  is  writing  al>out,  and  I  am  inclined  on  his  word  to  try  Texas.     Just  get  him  to 

tell  us  .something  more  about  flu-  climate,  soil,  and  special  advantages  of  Texas 

over  the  other  parts  of  the  St.i 


For  answer  to  the  above  Father  Nugent  sent  the  following  to  the 
August  12,  1871.     We  publish  it  because  it  contains  what  emigrants    most 
re  to  know,   in  1  i-  from  a  perfectly  disinterested  sour. 

"That  Texas  offers  a  homestead  and  tin-  m.-aiis  ..f  acquiring  wealth  to  the  poor 
man  \N  ith  ::uty  and  less  lab...-  il-an  other  portions  of  the  States  cannot 

tiled  into  question  by  any  one  i  06i  and  advant  a 

It  i<  pie  eminently  the  country  for  the  poor  m;in  who  seeks  for  a  home  and  a  living 
for  his  family  ;  I'M-  n  >  matter  how  poor  a  man  may  be,  if  he  has  health  and  will  only 
go  to  work,  he  •  tow  years  have  proj>orty  and  stock  and  enjoy  every  adv.m 

tnge  ..     If  he  fails  in  this,  •  (he  fault  will  lie  at  his  own  d<n»r.'     The 

climate  is  temperate  and  salubrious  ;  the  >oi!  i>  nut  only  fertile  to  a  degree  unknown 
toth  fd  to  the  pro-  of  crops.  Some  of  the 

ern  States  may  bo  t  ,  ield  as  much  per  acre,  if  the 

!ie:ml   of  none  with   a  climate  and 

soil  adapted  to  SO  large  a  ••.»ntribnt»»  BO  largely  to  wealth  and 

n  and  mill.  :.  corn,  ;md  all 

kinds  of  n  'i  iu  abun<i  '  qually  adapted  to  cotton,  giving  a  bale 

Of  500   poimils  to  the  acre.      These  OOttoii   lauds,   which   are   not  to   b.  -d    in 

the  world,  are  capable  of  yielding  all  kinds  nd  \egetables.  .    Many  of  the 

timge,  an  ,:ulanee   during  the 

sum:  iis,  but  Texan  has  the  advantage  of  Affording  perennial    , 

with'  ;   the   farmer  with  the  heavy  labor  \  pieparin^  food   in 

the  summer    for   his  cattle  and    si  •  'lien   dealing  it    <>nt    to  them  ; 

The  right  of  pusturugo  in  tho  We>  hi-  to  be  paid   for.  while  ir 

is  free  to  all.      1  >t  surprise  OUT  Manchester  friend  to  hear  ihat,  during  our 

noent  tour  in  Texas,  ire  «>i\,  no\\  possessing  imm 

prop'  "is,  who,  not  many  y<  arrived  in  that 

State  without  .as  their  only  capital,  and   in  the   Lone 

Star  B  Here  is  one  of  a  hundred  examples 

Of  a  poor  man  becoming  rich  v  I'ucnty-tive  years  a  LJO  an  Irishman 

enga  iser.     There  was  no  money  to  be  given,  but  he  was  to  be 

•  led  and  found  ineveryt;  in  the  place  of  wa^-  to  receive 

COW  and   a  Ca'.  F  worth    XlOO,000    in   cash,    and   sends-   to 

market  each    \--ar   from  ,r\  thousand  head  of  cattle.      Many  a  pour 

sailor,  tired  of  the  i>oriN  of  the  dee  n  refuge  in  Ti-xas,  and  by  energy  and 

perseverance  has  climbed  to  the  t  -und  of  the  ladder.     Here  is  one,  who 

was  form-  -i  before  the  mast,  who  h:ts  n..w  >i\  steamers  on  the  Rio  Grande, 

'<)  head  of  cat;  •  head  of  horse  stock,  12,000  sheep,  and  ir,o,  000  acres 

of  land,  and  last  year  invested  $20,000  in  the  Jackson  and  New  Orleans  Railroad. 

u:e  Greeley  paid  Texas  a  visit  the  last  week  in  May  of  this  year,  and  christened 
it  the  *Land  of  Promise.'     After  .  5  the  richness  of  the  soil  and  the  easy 

-  upon  which  it  may  be  <•  ot  the  mineral  wealth  of 

ps  undi>turbed  and  useless.  She  h;is  'iron  enough  to  divide  the  earth  by 
railroads  into  squares  ten  miles  across,  but  no  ton  of  it  was  ever  smelted.  She  has 
at  least  five  thousand  square  miles  of  coal  (probably  much  more),  but  no  ton  of  it 
was  ever  dug  for  sale.  She  has  gypsum  enough  to  plaster  the  continent  annually 
for  a  century,  but  it  lies  quiet  and  3  -a  waste  of  earth-covered  stone.  She 

has  more  land  good  for  wheat  than  Minnesota,  yet  imports  nearly  all  her  Hour.  She 
has  millions  of  acres  of  excellent  timber.  \et  builds  mainly  of  pine  from  Louisiana 
and  Florida.  She  sends  to  Ohio  for  her  hams  and  to  New  York  for  her  butter,  and 


46 

would  import  berries  and  fruit  if  her  people  had  not  learned,  while  they  were  unat- 
tainable, to  do  without  them.  If  ten  thousand  Northern  farmers  would  settle  just 
below  Houston  and  devote  themselves  to  supplying  that  city  and  Galveston  with 
fresh  milk,  butter,  strawberries,  raspberries,  peaches,  grapes,  etc.,  they  might 
charge  double  the  prices  and  get  rich  faster  than  so  many  cultivators  ever  did  before. 
They  would  have  to  make  their  own  ice,  but  that  ts  not  difficult ;  they  might  have 
to  teach  the  Texas  Central  Railroad  Company  how  to  run  a  milk-train  fifty  miles, 
but  that  need  not  exhaust  their  energies.  The  pasture-land,  fenced,  might  cost 
them  ten  dollars  an  acre  just  around  a  railroad  depot  and  a  junction ;  their  cows 
might  be  picked  at  $15  per  head,  and  tN-y  would  soon  sell  hay  enough  at  200  pel- 
cent,  profit  to  defray  the  cost  of  feeding  and  housing  their  stock.'  " 

The  approach  to  the  city  of  Shreveport  is  inconceivably  beautiful,  presenting 
an  entirely  different  physical  aspect  from  the  lowlands  along  which  we  have 
been  coursing  for  the  last  three  days.  The  corn  has  reached  its  largest  height, 
and  we  can  almost  see  the  cotton  grow.  Everything  looks  like  peace  and  pros- 
perity, promising  immense  harvests  in  the  fall  and  a  rapid  recovery  from  the 
debt  and  desolation  incident  to  the  overthrow  of  the  rebellion,  the  failure  of 
past  crops,  and  the  general  dislocation  of  society  and  of  business.  A  thrifty 
population  of  about  12.000  compose  its  inhabitants.  It  is  plainly  but  neatly 
built,  and  has  a  jaunty  air  of  progress  about  it  that  is  full  of  promise.  By  the 
action  of  the  last  Congress  this  town  has  become  a  port  of  entry,  and  the  prac- 
tical terminus  on  Red  river  of  the  Texas  and  Pacific  Railroad.  The  citizens,  I 
trust,  will  bear  in  mind  that  they  are  indebted  for  these  great  boons  to  a  Re- 
publican Senator  (Kellogg)  and  to  a  Republican  Congress.  The  town  was 
established  about  the  year  1836  by  seven  enterprising  gentlemen,  all  of  whom 
have  passed1  away  except  one,  the  venerable  Mr.  Williamson.  It  has  grown 
steadily.  The  shipments  of  produce,  cotton,  wool,  hides,  cattle,  etc.,  etc.,  are 
very  great.  But  it  strikes  a  Northern  man  with  surprise  to  see  no  factory 
smoke.  Where  are  the  great  hives  of  skilled  labor,  without  which  towns  can- 
not long  survive  under  the  light  and  necessities  of  modern  civilization  ?  I  have 
heard  of  but  one — a  cotton-seed  oil  factory.  What  a  fine  field  for  Northern 
capital  and  enterprise  !  Cotton  factories,  wool  factories,  tanneries,  and  shoe 
and  boot  factories,  would  pay  handsomely  at  this  point.  The  town  has  many 
churches  and  schools.  The  people  are  quiet  and  industrious;  and,  strange  to 
say  in  these  Dolly  Varden  days,  out  of  the  whole  population  there  is  not  a  single 
fashionable  family.  The  health  of  the  place  is  excellent.  I  predict  for  it  a 
glorious  future. 

At  this  gateway  of  the  grandest  material  enterprise  of  this  or  any  age,  let 
me  give  the  general  reader  an  idea  of  the  work  undertaken  by  Colonel  Thomas 
A.  Scott  and  his  associates.  "  The  Texas  and  Pacific  Railway  Company"  finds 
finished  to  its  hands  66  miles  of  railroad,  from  Shreveport,  on  Red  river,  to 
Longview,  Upshur  county,  Texas,  which  is  doing  a  good  freight  and  passenger 
business.  This  is  the  line  heretofore  known  as  the  Southern  Pacific,  and  extends 
from  Marshall,  Texas,  through  a  magnificent  region,  to  El  Paso  del  Norte,  near 
the  boundary  between  the  United  States  and  Mexico,  thence  to  the  junction  of 
the  Gila  and  Colorado  rivers  of  the  west  at  Fort  Yuma,  and  thence  to  the  mag- 
nificent harbor  of  San  Diego,  on  the  Pacific  coast,  which  is  land-locked,  and 


47 

large  enough  for  one  thousand  vessels  to  ride  with  ease  on  its  bosom.  There 
is  Another  branch,  formerly  the  Trans-continental,  which  begins  at  Texarkana, 
in  the  county  of  Lafayette,  Texas,  ten  miles  west  of  Fulton,  Arkansas,  and  ex- 
tends through  a  most  fertile  region  of  country  to  Fort  Worth,  in  the  county  of 
Tarrant,  Texas,  where  it  joins  the  main  line,  above  described,  and  the  two  to- 
T  pursue  the  route  to  the  Pacific  on  the  32d  parallel.  To  Fort  Worth,  after 
visit  ing  the  towns  of  Marshall  and  Jefferson,  Colonel  Scott  and  his  party  will  pro- 
ceed to-morrow,  when  we  will  stage  it  one  hundred  and  seventy-five  miles  across 
«-..untry.  reaching  the  railroad  at  Dallas,  whence  we  proceed  through  Houston 
ami  other  places  to  Galveston.  There  we  board  the  M  iiuer  for  New 

Orleans,  and  so  home,  which,  with  the  good  fortune  that  has  so  far  attended  us, 
w.  hope  to  reach  by  the  loth  «>r  15th  of  July,  or  a  little  over  a  month  since  we 
l.-tt  This  is  a  long  route;  when  completed  we  shall  have  traveled  nearly 
1  miles  by  rail,  steamboat,  stage,  and  ocean  steamer.  Colonel  Scott  and 
his  chief  engineer  have  been  continually  occupied  during  our  trip  consulting 
maps,  laying  out  routes,  providing  for  materials,  workmen,  etc.,  so  that,  when 
h.  reaches  Marshall,  the  threshold  of  his  work,  he  will  give  his  orders  clearly. 
T..1  .u. -1  Henry  G.  Stebbins,  vice  president  of  the  company,  is  now  in  Loudmi, 
negotiating  the  first  loan,  which,  under  the  prestige  attending  this  ^raud 
scheme  will  be  easily  secured. 

By  uniting  the  two  lines  referred  to,  ch  artm-d  by  the  State  of  Texas  and  by 
Congressional  enaetuiei,  1  under  the  title  of  "The  Texan  ami  l'a< 

Col.  Scott  secures  all  the  lands  and  bonds  voted  to  the  said  Texas  roads  by  tiu> 
State  of  Texas,  equal  in    value  to  over  eighteen  millions  of  dollars.     Ti, 
exclusive  of    the   sub-.  <  'ongress  of   public  lands    in    the    Territoi 

between  El  Paso,  in  Texas,  ami  S.n  I'iego,  in  California. 

The  distance  from  the  eastern  boundary  of  Texas  to  San  IH.Mjo  is  about 
1,600  miles,  or,  inelu-lm-j;  ilu-  Trans-continental  Road  and  its  branches  from 
Texarkana  to  Marshall,  about  1,900  miles.  There  are  no  ing  diffi- 

culities  of  any  kind  to  be  met  with  ;  th- •:•••  is  no  practical  difficulty  in  regard  to 
tut  1  or  water,  and  the  country  generally  presents  more  facilities  for  the  con- 
struction of  a  railroad  than  can  be  found  on  a  line  of  equal  length  on  the 
Western  Continent.  Comparing  the  different  estimates  of  cost  of  this  line,  and 
comparing  all  the  estimates  with  the  estimated  cost  of  all  the  other  roads  in  the 
United  States,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  this  road  can  be  constructed  in  a  first- 
class  manner  and  thoroughly  equipped  for  business  at  a  cost,  as  before  stated, 
not  exceeding  $40,000  of  bonded  debt  per  mile.  To  aid  in  the  construction  of 
this  road,  the  United  States  has  made  a  grant  of  its  lands  in  the  Territories  of 
New  Mexico  and  Arizona  and  the  State  of  California,  in  all  net  less  than 
15,000,000  acres,  in  alternate  sections,  along  the  route  of  said  road. 

The  company  offers  its  bonds,  issued  under  the  provisions  of  its  charter, 
secured  by  a  mortgage  of  the  entire  road,  its  franchises,  property,  rolling  stock, 
and  appurtenances,  including  the  fifteen  millions  of  acres  of  land  granted  by 
the  United  States,  and  believes  that  HO  better  or  more  satisfactory  security 


48 

r 

exists.  The  bonds  are  payable  in  forty  years,  in  gold,  and  the  interest,  at  six 
per  cent.,  with  one  per  cent,  for  sinking  fund,  also  in  gold,  payable  semi- 
annually.  The  principal  and  interest  will  be  payable  at  the  option  of  the 
holder,  in  Europe  or  America,  as  set  forth  in  the  bond. 

Besides  this  development  of  business  is  the  actually  existing  business  awaiting 
transportation,  and  already  adverted  to,  in  Texas,  Chihuahua,  Sonora,  New 
Mexico,  Arizona,  and  California.  Mr  Greeley,  who  traveled  extensively  in 
Texas  in  1871,  estimates  that  in  1880  sb3  will  have  a  population  of  two  millions, 
and  that  her  industry  and  enterprise  will  have  far  outstripped  the  increase  of 
population.  It  is  estimated  that  at  least  100,000  emigrants  have  arrived  within 
her  borders  during  the  past  year,  and  that  there  will  be  shipped  from  the  Red 
river  country  alone,  during  the  present  year,  75,000  head  of  cattle,  750,000 
pounds  of  beef,  100,000  pounds  of  tallow  with  hides,  225,000  bales  of  cotton, 
and  large  quantities  of  wool,  and  that  the  receipts  from  all  sources  will  not  be 
less  than  $50,000,000. 

Of  the  through  trade  between  California  and  the  Atlantic,  and  the  trade  and 
traffic  of  the  Eastern  Continent,  this  road,  from  its  superior  advantages  already 
adverted  to,  must  inevitably  secure  a  large  proportion.  The  gross  earnings  of 
the  Union  Pacific  and  Central  Pacific  Railways  combined,  for  1871,  the 
second  year  of  their  through  business,  as  officially  reported,  amounted  to 
817,250,000,  of  which  amount  65  per  cent,  was  local  business,  mainly  created 
by  the  railroad  itself,  and  about  53  per  cent,  or  nearly  nine  millions  and  a  half 
of  the  above  sum,  was  net  profit  over  operating  expenses.  An  equal  revenue  on 
the  Texas  and  Pacific,  estimating  its  total  cost  at  say  $75,000,000,  would  give 
a  return  of  over  12  per  cent.,  as  the  net  earnings  and  the  amounts  will  expand 
in  an  ever-increasing  ratio  as  the  country  is  settled  and  its  resources  developed. 

But  superadded  to  all  this  is  the  munificent  contribution  of  lands  by  the 
Government,  the  general  character  of  which  is  such  as  to  secure  their  ready 
sale,  and  the  proceeds  of  sales  of  which,  by  the  terms  of  the  mortgage,  are 
devoted  to  the  payment  of  interest  on  the  bonds  and  the  purchase  of  the  bonds 
themselves,  the  latter  of  which  features,  it  is  believed,  will  put  the  bonds  at  par 
as  soon  as  the  company  itself  shall  be  able,  from  the  sales  of  land,  to  announce 
itself  as  a  purchaser  of  its  own  bonds. 

Judging  from  the  experience  of  other  companies  in  the  sale  of  Government 
lands,  the  inference  is  fairly  warrantable  that  the  value  of  the  lands  themselves 
will  be  amply  sufficient  to  build  and  equip  the  entire  road,  thus  doubling  the 
security  for  the  payment  of  the  bonds. 

The  Union  Pacific  Railroad  Company  during  the  year  1870  sold  294,000 
acres  of  land,  at  an  average  of  $4.46  per  acre — $1,311,240.  At  a  like  rate  per 
acre  the  15,000,000  acres  of  the  Texas  and  Pacific  Railway  Company  would 
produce  $67,900,000. 

I  have  now  given  you  an  outline  of  the  last  project  with  which  Colonel  Scott 
is  identified. ,  Its  magnitude  is  almost  beyond  comprehension ;  its  prosecution 
and  completion  worthy  of  the  loftiest  ambition.  Needless  for  me  to  say  that 


49 

our  young  and  daring  leader  looks  to  no  pecuniary  reward.  That  lie  has 
already  secured.  He  now  aspires  to  the  higher  object  of  re-uniting  North  and 
South  in  the  bonds  of  increasing  commerce  and  lasting  peace. 

How  mysterious  are  the  ways  of  Providence !     A  little  more  than   twenty 

years  ago,  when  Thomas  A.  Scott  was  an  humble  subordinate  in  the  employ  of 

the  Pennsylvania  Central  Railroad,  .J»T;'.-r>->n  Davis  was  a  Senator  in  Congress 

from   Mississippi,  and  Franklin  Pierce  a  candidate  for  President.     Scott  voted 

i  thf  l::tti-r.  rlivu-d  in  X"\    :uber  of  1852,  made  Jefferson  Davis  his 

Secretary  of  V  t'  the  first  steps  of  the  latter  was  to 

order  a  survey  of  the  Territories  to  find  out  the  best  route  for  a  railroad  to  the 

ic.      Four  n-ports  wrre  made  by  the  ablest  of  our  engineers,  which  he  sent 

to  Congress  ably  supported  in  one  of  his  best  papers.     Th--  war  postponed  all 

work    on    the    route    over  the  thirty-second  parallel,  whicli    was   the    favorite 

i-ut    did    not    stop    the  speedy   construction    of    that   now 

known   as   the   Union    Pacific    by    >  -se,   even   \vlu-n     Davis 

leading  the  people  of  the  South   t  linst  their  country.     And 

now,  just  at  tin-   moment  these  same  people  are  \  .  by  the   p->nl 

lion,  and  when  they  an  ;  forward  i\»r  one  brave,  strong,  and 

:.)  help  them  out  of  the  gloom,  Colonel  Scott  steps  forward  in 
r  of  his   age,  and  accepts  the  trust,  which,  but  for  that  rebellion 
would  have  been  long  ago  discharged  by  other  hands. 


T 


OFFICERS  OF  THE 
EXAS     AND     PACIFIC     |vAILWAY      COMPANY. 

'"•'•  , 

THOMAS    A.    SCOTT. 

Treasurer, 

KI  NT. 

s        •••/•'•,  Assistant  Secretary, 

HART.  D.  Km  MI;IIAAB,. 


BOARD  OF    DIRECTORS. 


Tuos.  A.  SCOTT,  Pa., 

p,  N.  Y., 

H.  G.  ST>  N.Y., 

G.  W.  CASS,  Pa., 
W.  T.  WALTERS,  Md., 

J.  N.  McCULLOUGH,  Pa., 

W.  C.  HITE,  Ky., 
W.  C.  HALL,  Ky., 


H.  B.  PLANT,  Ga., 
H.  D.  NEWCOMB,  Ky., 
I-].  \\r.  RICE,  Iowa, 
H.  S.  McCoMB,  Del., 
J.  McMANUS,  Pa., 
J.  W.  FORNEY,  Pa., 
W.  R.  TRAVERS,  N.  Y., 
J.  S.  HARRIS,  La., 


J.  W.  THKOCKMORTON,  Texas. 


ITS     i  FORNEY, 

l>  I'THEICS  — IXTK11K8T      OF     THE      TEXAS     AND 

L.TISI\                           K     IN     TH  '     ENTKKPUISE— THl                                    NT     OF    A 

AT     \«;ui« •( TTrKAi  uION    SOUTH    OF    U8   TO    BK   THE    NEXT 

KS8. 


SHREVEPORT,    LA. 

A     MKETINU      AT     Til!  I!     !l«»«»MS—  THK      KNTERPRISE 

'KD. 

nlancc  with  arranL'cments 

.    made,  a  ni«  rl    IJoard   <>f  Trade   was  held,  at 

h  Hppean-l  ijnite  ;i  HUM  •   d   in    the  important  matter 

reception  «>f  (\.lonel  T.  A.  Scott  and 

created  wa  M  their  views  upon  the  important  rail- 

road enterprise  in   which   they  are  ei  .nd   its  bearing  iif»on  the  futun* 

• 

.bout  halt  ;r    ..'.-lurk,  '        Lindsay,   tir-t   vice   president  of  the 

'!:•«!    th»-  meet:  m<l    in   ;i  f'r\v  remarks  stated   the 

object  <>f  it.      Hi-  then  formally  intmdurrd  <'«»1.  Scott  and  party  to  the  meeting, 

requested    <'"!.    F'.rncy,   of  the    Philadelphia  /Vxx,  to  address  the  body 

Tul.  Forney  immediately  arose,  and  in  a  quiet  and  unpretending  manner  do- 
:  the  following 

APDRE 


Mil.  rUKSii.KNT,  FKI.  I.  ..\v-<MTl/ENS,  ANL>  PlLLOW-OOUMTBTMXN  :  I  feel 
highly  complimented  in  being  permitted  to  appear  before  you  to-night,  but  as  I 
am  here  rather  as  an  auxiliary,  in  fact  rather  as  the  guest  of  Col.  Scott,  though 
a  director  of  the  road  under  its  new  organization,  I  cannot  be  expected  to  talk 
to  you  technically  of  the  great  enterprise  you  have  so  much  at  heart/  and  with 
which  he  has  at  la^t  become  definitely  identified.  If  I  may  be  permitted  to  say 
a  single  word  about  myself,  I  will  say  that  nearly  twenty-five  years  ago,  \ 
had  the  honor,  in  my  journalistic  connection  at  Washington,  to  advocate  in  an 
humble  way  this  great  measure;  and  it  shows  the  providential  workings  of  the 
times.  This  grand  scheme,  which  originated  with  one  of  your  cherished 
^men,  interrupted  and  postponed  by  the  calamities  of  war,  is  to,  be  finally 

H 


52 

prosecuted  and  completed  by  a  citizen  of  Pennsylvania.  [Applause.]  The 
gentleman  now  here  present  comes  to  you  with  a  history  and  a  name  as  familiar 
as  that  of  any  other  on  the  continent.  I  do  not  trust  myself  to  speak  of  Colonel 
Scott  as  I  feel,  lest  I  might  be  accused  of  personal  eulogy ;  but  I  will  tell  the 
young  men  of  the  South  around  me,  those  who"  desire  an  example  of  energy 
and  enterprise,  that  that  example  is  here  at  my  right  hand.  [Applause.]  A 
little  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago  he  who  now  heads  this  great  enter- 
prise was  among  the  humblest  of  our  citizens,  and  to-day  he  is  the  type  of  a 
finished  statesman.  After  all,  gentlemen,  now  that  the  era  of  conflict  has 
passed,  and  great  ideas  are  being  accepted  as  the  result  of  that  conflict  •  now 
that  we  are  mingling  and  mixing  with  each  other — seeing  each  other  face  to  face  ; 
now  that  seas  are  crossed,  and  continents  are  neighbored,  and  men  talk  to  each 
other  across  wide  expanses  with  pens  of  lightning  and  tongues  of  fire,  mere 
political  theories  subside,  and  the  great  truths  of  industry,  energy,  and  enter- 
prise become  vital :  and  hence  it  is,  when  this  gentleman  consented  to  bring  to 
you  his  fresh  credit,  his  unstained  name,  untrammeled  by  the  coils  of  party, 
and  his  scorn  of  the  mere  differences  among  men,  he  gave  you  the  very  best 
assurance  of  his  sincerity.  I  think  he  has  passed  beyond  the  realm  of  mere 
pecuniary  ambition.  Having  just  closed  the  48th  year  of  his  life,  he  can  look 
forward  to  being  identified  with  the  great  work  of  reconciliation  and  redemp- 
tion— of  opening  up  to  you  that  vast  empire  hermetically  closed  so  long — of 
making  you  what  you  should  have  been  from  the  first,  the  centre  and  the  be- 
ginning of  the  greatest  international  railroad  in  the  world.  Now  let  me  talk 
to  you  as  a  Northern  man,  and  say  that  we  come  here  as  brothers,  friends.  I 
have  never  before  seen  this  wonderful  region,  and  since  we  left  New  Orleans  on 
Saturday  evening,  to  all  of  us  it  was  a  new  revelation;  everything  was  fresh, 
everything  was  novel.  As  we  advanced  into  the  heart  of  this  great  region,  and 
landed  in  the  midst  of  your  beautiful  little  metropolis,  it  was  something  charm- 
ing to  find  so  much  refinement,  cultivation,  and  courtesy ;  and,  gentlemen,  I 
felt  doubly  proud  of  our  country  to  see  the  evidences  of  the  courage  with  which 
you  sustained  your  side  of  the  great  conflict  through  which  we  have  passed.  It 
was  something  to  know  that  we  met  as  foemen  in  war,  and  that  we  are  now 
brothers  in  peace ;  and  I  tell  you  that  there  is  not  a  heart  in  the  North  that 
does  not  desire  to  throb  in  unison  and  friendship  with  you ;  that  there  is  not  a 
man  or  woman  in  my  section  who  does  not  yearn  to  be  your  friend,  and  who 
does  not  desire  to  meet  you  under  our  own  national  vine  and  fig  tree,  with  none 
to  molest  or  make  us  afraid.  Having  said  this  much,  I  feel  I  would  be  in- 
truding upon  the  business  of  the  night  if  I  did  more  than  to  thank  you  for  this 
pleasant  opportunity  of  meeting  you. 

The  speech  of  Colonel  Forney  was  received  with  many  evidences  of  appreci- 
ation by  the  meeting. 

SPEECH  OF  COLONEL  THOMAS  A.  SCOTT. 

MR.  CHAIRMAN  AND  MEMBERS  OP  THE  BOARD  OP  TRADE  OF  SHREVEPORT  : 
I  may  state  that  after  coming  here  with  G-en.  Dodge,  chief  engineer  of  the 
Texas  and  Pacific  Railway  Company,  and  several  directors  of  that  organization, 
and  examining  your  city  in  all  its  bearings,  we  have  come  .to  one  or  two  conclu- 
sions which  I  desire  to  lay  before  you. 

First,  in  order  to  inaugurate  this  enterprise  and  carry  it  forward  successfully, 
we  want  your  prompt  and  energetic  action,  and  it  has  occurred  to  me,  or  rather 
has  been  suggested  by  some  of  your  people,  that  the  city  of  Shreveport  would 
take  the  matter  in  hand  and  provide  what  this  company  would  require  within 


53 

your    corporate    limits.       We    shall    need    large   facilities    for    the   reception, 
shipmenc,  uud   transportation  «»i'  materials   and   supplies  for   a   railway  sixteen 
hundred    miles   in   length,  and   which    must   necessarily   attract  to   this  point 
ant  oi  b  r  visiting    different  locations  during 

the   day   we  have  come   prepared  to  make  the  following    proposition :     That 
the   city   of  Shreveport  shall  provide  by    purchase   and  transfer   by  de'ed  in 

>lc    Hail  way    Company  all  the   property   lying   be- 

and  the  >  imcncing  at  the  line  of  Cotton 

ing  down  the  river  to  the  boundary  of  what  is   known  as  the 

Silver  Lake  tr  between   Commerce  street  and 

ud  to  protect  the  river 

;ch  suitable  cribbing  and  work  as  will  make  it  a  permanent 
>mpany,  and  also  to  grant  the  right 

of  way  i'»r  the  company  -  from  their  present  terminus  down 

to  (V.nui:  'cmeree  to  the  Silver  Lake  tract,  and 

.    tin-    ;n;i.  ..-nt.>   of  this  company  at  su>-h   times 

•  aiM-onunodate  the  traffic  to  and 
i  ;  and  also  to  and  fn»m  such  extensions  of 
;i3  may  be  necessar . 

<TY  !•!'  traffic,  material,  and  supplies 
to  be  slid  all  otiu-r  pnrp. 

,'s  we  ask  you  to  do  for  this  company,  in  return  for 
•   which  I  think  we  may  say  I  '  •  y;>ur  city  a   : 

number  o  •••«,  and  within  a  short  period  of 

inties,  so  that 
you  may  have  the  opportuui  report  a  i  «e  of  the 

interest  as  well  as  to  ours  to 

secure  an  y  of  Memphis  or  Virk>burg.     The  road   by  way  of 

a  of  one   hundred  miles 
ins,  about  one  hundred 
It  will  also  give  a  short  and  very  direct  con- 
•  hin.md,  Washington,  Baltimore, 
id  also,  with  the  line  being  con- 
lines  to   St.  Louis,  Louisville, 
.ed   in  serious   litigation  at 

h   may  delay  its  prosecutiun,  but  if  your  people  show  the  proper 
enterprise  and  liberality,  I  think  done  within  twelve  months  from  this 

'did  like  to  see  the  citix  :ireveport  take 

hold  of,  and  if  you  can  say  to  otr  y  within  ten  or  fifteen  days  that  you 

of  way  to  extend  our  road  and  depot  facilities,  we  will 

bring  to  this  point  an  amount  of  bi-.  i  cannot  fail  to  contribute  essen- 

rity.     [  d     ire  to  thauk  the  Board  of  Trade  for  the 

ntcrred  upon  me  in  electing  me  one  of  its  members,  and  I 

hope  to  1  are  of  m  .oin  in  the  future,  and  now  desire  to 

.  the  peo;  mr  gratitude  for  the  hospitalities  and  cour- 

hey  have  been  pleased  to  exterd  to  our  little  party. 

iie  conclusion  of  Colonel  Idress  A.  H.  Leonard,  Esq.,  was  called 

for,  who  proposed,  in  a  few  neat  remarks,  a  resolution  to  the  effect  that  the 

proposition  of  Colonel  Scott  should  at  once  be  accepted  and  submitted  to  the 

board  of  administrators  for  ratification.     [The  offer  of  Col.  Scott  has  since  been 

unanimously  accepted.] 


In  seconding  the  resolution  of  Mr.  Leonard,  Colonel  George  Williamson  ad- 
vocated the  adoption  of  the  proposition  made  by  Colonel  Scott.  Upon  the  part 
of  the  Shreveport  Board  of  Trade,  he  responded  to  the  hearty  expressions  of 
good  will  used  by  Colonel  Forney  in  his  address.  He  esteemed  the  gentlemen 
whom  he  had  the  pleasure  of  welcoming  to-nigh\  as  exponents  of  the  ideas  of 
modern  progress,  and  as  Northern  men  whose  hearts  felt  kindly  toward  the  suf- 
fering South.  He  said  it  was  necessary,  in  order  to  restore  harmony  between 
the  sections,  for  the  people  to  know  each  other ;  that  when  better  acquainted, 
animosities,  envies,  and  jealousies  would  be  assuaged;  and  then  would  arise  a 
homogeneity  of  interest  that  would  bind  the  people  together.  He  indulged  the 
hope  that  the  time  was  not  far  distant  when  North  and  South  would  join  hands 
in  rearing  monuments  to  those  noble  heroes  of  the  war,  of  whom  Americans 
and  all  mankind  were  proud,  as  the  highest  exemplars  of  human  virtue  and 
pairiotism.  The  speech  of  Colonel  Williamson  was  well  received,  and  elicited 
much  applause,  although  delivered  in  a  rather  quiet  and  conversational  tone. 
It  was  brief,  and  expressed  in  that  classical  good  English  of  which  that  gentle- 
man is  so  complete  a  master. 

The  resolution  was  unanimously  adopted,  after  which  Colonel  Forney  said : 

I  am  instructed  by  Colonel  Scott  to  say  that  he  highly  appreciates  the  prompti- 
tude and  unanimity  with  which  the  resolution  has  been  adopted,  and  I  need  not 
say  for  him  that  his  word  is  always  as  good  as  his  bond,  and  what  he  says  he 
means.  Now  let  me  add  a  few  remarks  supplementary  to  the  speech  of  my 
good -friend  Colonel  Williamson.  After  the  death  of  your  Stonewall  Jackson, 
whom  we  regarded  as  the  Knight  of  the  South,  inasmuch  as  he  presented  a 
singular  combination  of  Christian  virtues,  I  printed  an  editorial  from  my  own 
heart,  testifying  to  his  high  qualities  in  the  midst  of  that  fierce  conflict  when 
the  lintel  of  every  household  was  draped  in  mourning.  In  response  I  received 
a  letter  from  Abraham  Lincoln  in  which  he  expressed  his  appreciation  of  the 
motive  that  prompted  me  to  pay  a  proper  tribute  to  such  virtues  and  valor. 
Yes,  Mr.  President,  the  day  of  revenge  has  gone,  the  day  of  reconciliation  is 
coming,  and  God  grant  it  may  come  quickly  and  stay  long.  I  well  remember 
the  bitterness  with  which  the  North  regarded  your  deceased  leaders,  and  yet, 
as  I  pass  through  your  hotels,  private  houses,  steamboats,  and  places  of  public 
resort,  and  gaze  upon  the  lineaments  of  Robert  E.  Lee,  I  do  so  no  longer  with 
resentment.  I  remember  him  and  the  motive  that  prompted  him  to  draw  his 
sword.  I  remember  the  rancor  with  which  that  motive  was  criticised,  but  now 
all  is  forgotten.  Peace  and  prosperity  are  beginning  to  li^ht  up  your  dark 
places,  and  the  time  is  arriving  when  the  name  of  Robert  E.  Lee  will  be  re- 
membered in  the  North  as  that  of  a  man  who  honestly  believed  he  was  fighting 
in  a  cause  which  was  right.  May  we  not  in  the  same  spirit  demand  from  you 
recognition  of  the  Great  Man  who  fought  against  him  on  the  side  of  the  Union  ? 
We  have  reached  an  era  in  which,  no  matter  who  is  elected  President,  the 
wheels  of  progress  will  move  onward.  I  believe  this  people  has  outlived  its 
passions  ;  is  settling  itself  down  upon  the  eternal  rock  of  truth,  and  will  pres- 
ently stand  before  the  nations  of  the  earth,  ready  to  fight  against  a  world  of 
arms,  if  it  must  be,  but  more  ready  for  the  conquests  of  civilization.  [Cheers.] 

After  the  appointment  of  a  committee  of  five  to  confer  with  the  municipal 
authorities,  the  meeting  adjourned. 


55 


jjEFFERSON,      JfiXAS. 


ENTHUSIASTIC      RKCK  I'll  «>N  —  GENERAL      TURNOUT      OF     THE     CITIZENS  - 

NKI,    FORNEY. 

.IKFFERSON,  TEXAS,  Jnnc.  15:2,  1872. 

Colonel   Thou,  gentlemen  with  him  interested  in  the 

M  uii.I  1'aeilie  Railway.  arrived  hero  at  ten  o'clock  last  evening,  from  Marshall, 

teen  mile-  distant,  havini:  etij"\ed  a  pleasant  carriage  drive  across  the  coun- 

try.    They  received  a  most  cordial   ;m<l  enthusiastic  reception  from  the  people 

bia   tl.)uri>liin_'  and  enterprising  oity.      Long  before  they  reached  Jefferson 

they  were  saluted   with   the   firing  of  cannon,  and  just  after  they  crossed   the 

ami   entered    the   ciiy  limits,  tin  \   W"iv    met   by  a   band  of  music  and   the 

aded  by  Judge   Macadoo,  the  firemen  of  both 

;-    in   full   uni'  m    of  eiti/ens.      livery   house  was 

illuminated,  :md   bonfires  were  lighted  at  the  mo>t  conspicuous  points.      Having 

•.e.l  the  iVniral   JI  :d  his  party  were  formally  introduced. 

The  baii<:  !  other  appropriate  music.     In  response 

1  .l.-hii  \V    Forney  was  introduced,  and  spoke  from 

;\    as   ful  lows: 

I  appear  b<>  i->n  not  upon  my 

own  I  ,i-lied  guest,  Colonel  Thnmas  A. 

mes  not   bearing  with   him  any  of  the  tuophies 

ion   of  peace,   reconciliation,    prosperity,  fraternity,  and 

;i.      [Chen--.]      S;  --re  as  we  do,  twenty-four  hundred  miles 

n  our  homes,  ti»r  th.  ng  through  a  constant  Jivenue 


who  had  ii'-verseen  the  peculiarities  of  your  special  civiliza 
tion,  there   is  s«»m«-thiii^  .striking  in   the   fact  that  Colonel  Thomas  A.  Scott  is 

untainted  name,  his  unshaken  e 

st  work  of  the  age.   [Cheers.] 
rratulate  you  upon  it.     After 

•i  era  of  blood  and  peril,  we  are  here  to  embark,  let  us  hope, 
irios  of  brotherhood.     \ 

The  .;r<  at.  ^t  railr.-i'l   »n   tl,  nt  will  soon  be  commenced  in  earnest 

>=o  thai   henceforth,  divided  as  we  have  been,  we  shall  be  united  by 

!'  coiunn  rce,  by  thr  ible  liiraments  of  peace  and  affection. 

Never  before  having  trav.  •!  region,  I  felt  a  glow  of  pride  as 

reamed  along  the  Father  of  Waters,  and  rode  up  the  wonderful  Red  river, 

inallv  entered  the  empire  of  States  —  this  world  in  itself.      When  the  great 

h,  which  has  been  so  i  -f  you,  and  which  has  so  long  misunder- 

1  you  —  when  that  far   North  hears  that  it  is  the  home  of  refinement  and 

of  ei;  her  multitudes  will  seek  your  broad  savannas,  and  from  all  parts 

of  the  world  emigration  will  hurry  forth  to  a  region  without  winter,  where 

aim  Til  spring  and  summer  abound,  and  where  perennial  crops  reward 

the  husbandmen,  where  all  the  populations  of  this  great  nation  may  be  assem- 

-y  Botitwell,  without  being  more  crowded 
than  the  State  of  .Massachusetts.      [Cheers.] 

I  thank  you  in  the  name  of  Colonel  Scott  and  my  associates  for  this  hearty 
and  characteristic  Southern  welcome.     [Applause.] 


56 

The  party  then  partook  of  refreshments,  and  afterwards  attended  a  ball  given 
in  their  honor  by  the  citizens  of  Jefferson,  where  they  had  an  opportunity  of 
meeting  a  number  of'  the  principal  ladies  of  the  place.  Early  this  morning 
they  were  driven  to  various  points  of  interest  in  and  around  the  city.  Every 
courtesy  was  extended  to  them  during  their  short  visit.  They  returned  to 
Marshall  this  evening,  and  leave  there  to-morrow  morning  for  Long  View,  the 
present  terminus  of  the  Texas  and  Pacific,  and  go  thence  through  the  interior 
of  the  State,  stopping  at  Dallas,  Fort  T,  orth,  Houston,  and  Gralveston. 


EXAS. 


J 


MARSHALL,  TEXAS,  ON     SATURDAY    EVENING,  JUNE    22,  1872. 

In  response  to  an  invitation  of  the  citizens  of  Marshall,  Texas,  Colonel 
Forney  delivered  an  address  on  railroads  in  the  Court  House,  at  Marshall,  on 
Saturday  evening,  June  22.  The  room  was  crowded  and  great  enthusiasm 
prevailed.  The  citizens  were  jubilant  on  account  of  having  secured  the  location 
of  the  shops  of  the  Texas  and  Pacific  Railway,  and  when  Colonel  Forney  was 
introduced  by  T.  W.  Fraley,  Esq.,  he  was  received  with  great  applause.  After 
it  subsided  he  spoke  as  follows : 

MR.  PRESIDENT  AND  FELLOW-CITIZENS  :  In  what  I  may  say  to-night  in 
response  to  your  invitation,  you  will,  I  trust,  excuse  me  if  my  remarks  are 
desultory.  We  have  had  one  hard  week  of  travel,  starting  from  Philadelphia 
on  Wednesday  of  last  week,  over  2,300  miles  distant,  for  the  purpose  of  begin- 
ning what  I  conceive  to  be  the  greatest  enterprise  of  the  age.  What  with  the 
travel  and  fatigue,  I  am  scarcely  prepared  to  enter  into  such  a  discussion  of  the 
subject  as  its  magnitude  demands. 

We  have  within  the  last  hour  arrived  from  the  prosperous  and  promising 
city  of  Jefferson,  in  your  immediate  vicinity,  after  having,  through  our  chief, 
Col.  Thomas  A.  Scott,  consummated  arrangements  by  which  the  people  of  that 
point  have  been  satisfied,  and  the  scheme  itself,  so  long  delayed  and  so  patiently 
waited  for,  is  now  at  last  in  a  fair  way  of  vigorous  and  successful  prosecution. 
The  first  intelligence  which  reached  Colonel  Scott  on  his  arrival  here  was 
that  the  people  of  Marshall  had  to-day  accepted  his  generous  proposal. 
[  Applause.] 

I  congratulate  you,  my  friends  and  countrymen,  upon  this  auspicious  occa- 
sion. It  may  be  worth  mentioning  that  had  you  failed  to  meet  his  most 
moderate  requirement,  there  would  have  been  many  other  candidates  for  the 
facilities  which  you  have  now  wisely  concluded  to  accept  and  apply  to  your- 
selves. In  a  somewhat  long  and  exciting  life  I  may  say  that  1  have  never 
known  any  enterprise  to  awaken  such  sincere  and  universal  interest.  Colonel 
Scott,  as  you  are  aware,  does  not  come  among  you  for  any  personal  ends  or  per- 
sonal ambition;  he  is  simply  the  minister  of  peace  and  progress;  he  comes  with- 
out pretension  and  without  parade,  leaving  behind  him  a  business  and  occupa- 
tion more  absorbing  than  have  ever  before  been  concentrated  in  any  one 
individual.  To  give  you  some  idea  of  the  stupendous  work  performed  by  this 
modest  and  unpretending  citizen,  you  will  be  startled,  perhaps,  to  learn  that 
more  than  four  thousand  miles  of  railroad  are  under  the  control  or  managed  by 


57 

the  great  corporation  of  which  he  may  bo  called  the  executive  chief,  and  you 

will  the  better  comprehend  as  you  contemplate  this  fact  why  he  has  left  the 

:-duous  and  incessant  labors  to  accept  the  duties  of  president  of  the 

Texas  and  Pud  tie   Railway.      Far  removed,  therefore,  from  all  expectation  of 

pecuniary  reward,  he  comes  here  impressed  by  the  peculiar  solemnity — I  had 

almost  said  peculiar  sublimity — of  this  enterprise,  to  give  you  the  earnest  of  his 

•nee  and   to  instill  int"  <>f  the  vigor  and  determination  which  he 

hr-night  to  the  great  work  of  wlm-h  he  is  second  in  command,  and,  therefore, 

u  in  carry i n i:  forward  your  important  railway. 

Twenty-JVC  years  ago — le<>.  in  t.iet.  when  we  consider  that  the  great  Penn- 

sylv  i  :  until  1S47-48 — we,  in   Philadelphia,  had 

precisely  the  same  difficulty  that  y  -u  are  now  passing  through.     Wheu  it  was 

;o  pu>h  forward  a  line  of  communication  betw.  en   the  river  Delaware 

ify  of   Philadelphia  was  called  upon  for  a 
n    arms    at   the   suggestion    that 

should   ben  i    large   amount  of  money.     An 

->nal  violence  was  witnessed  at  the  meet- 
•ifrer   the   eanuist  efforts  of  sueh 

-hi-d  brother  of  the  chairman  of  this 

and  note,  a  loan  was  secured  and 

ihe  work   Wai  In  tin-  v-  18  nothing 

so  striking  a>  P  in ia  Central  road  in  the 

.11   today. 

— ii'.r  having  had  timo  in  the  hurry  of 
(.in-  •  :  to  the  aggregate  and  to  the  fact, 

now  Conceded  by  I  world,  that    the    Pennsylvania    Central    is- 

not  only  the  source  of  u  ny  it.-elf  and  t<»  the  assured 

but  that  it  has  made  of  Pennsylvania 
v — and    '  boldly — .1  llm-nce  and  wonderful  growth  of 

of  such  a 

••ion,  whieli    may  be   dirn-rly  attributed 

to  tin-  success  whirh  has  CM  :  prise  with  which  Colonel   Scott,  rose 

.  and  str-  v:    that    the  city  of   Phil-i- 

•10,000   a    year,  thus  placing 

above  any  otht-r  manufacturing  city  in   the  world.     One    locomotive   shop, 
that  with  an  army  of  workmen,  turns  our  a  first -"las-s  locouio- 

in  that  city  are  constantly  amazed  at 

and  prolific  iim-mimi  of  our  mechanics.     Every  description  of 

1  in  Philadelphia,  from  the  huire  locomotive  to  the  most 

jlier   branches  of  skilled    labor, 

iini:   those   of    Kurope   in   their  superior  finish — fine  cotton  and  woolen 
good-  hats,   for  exportation,  the  volante    for   far  South  America, 

of    machinery    and    articles,  many  of  which 

by  persons  supposing    them    to   be   of  foreign    manu- 

en    developed    magically;     our    iron 

e    been    produced    beyond  calculation.       As   an    instance,  I   will 

i    to     the    extraordinary     prosperity  of  the    Valley    of  the 

utifully    and    memorably    celebrated    by    Campbell    in    his 

of  Wyoming.       Twenty    years   ago    it  was    almost   a   wilderness, 

ir  stands  a  marvel  of   what  can    be  accomplished    by  American 

labor  properly  encouraged.     In   ls">8  I  was  invited  to  the  city  of  Scranton, 

to  deliver  a  lecture  for  charitable  purposes.     It  was  then  a  straggling  village, 

with  one   brick   tavern   and  a  dozen   frame  houses.     It  is  now  a  metropolis  of 


58 

fifty  thousand  people,  with  thirty  or  forty  railroad  tracks,,  main  and  tributary, 
entering  its  boundaries.  It  has  no  rival  in  the  bustle  and  ambition  and  aspira- 
tions of  its  people,  save  perhaps  in  the  single  city  of  Chicago.  Situated  in  a 
region  of  singiilar  beauty,  this  fact  is  presented,  that  in  the  valley  which  runs 
through  Wilkesbarre,  which  witnessed  the  trials  of  the  early  colonists  in  the 
days  of  the  Revolution,  and  extending  about  forty  miles  to  Scranton,  with  a 
width  of  ten  miles,  land  could  have  been  purchased  in  1858  for  $200  an  acre, 
but  scientific  investigation  having  prove  »  that  the  whole  surface  is  underlaid 
with  the  finest  quality  of  anthracite  coa1,  it  is  now  selling  at  $3,000  an  acre, 
while  the  city  of  Wilkesbarre  itself  is  mainly  built  over  land  containing  the 
?auie  precious  material.  We  have  an  iron  mountain  in  Pennsylvania  chiefly 
owned  by  the  distinguished  George  Dawson  Coleman.  which  it  has  been  ascer- 
tained by  scientific  measurement  contains  forty  millions  of  tons  of  iron  ore,  sold 
nt  the  bank  for  from  six  to  eight  dollars  a  ton. 

I  mention  these  incidents,  my  friends,  to  show  you  what  your  own  future 
must  be.  Your  present  condition  would  have  been  like  ours  if  the  remarkable 
political  gospel  had  not  been  taught  and  believed  in  by  great  numbers  of  intelli- 
gent people  of  both  parties,  that  the  General  Government  should  not  encourage 
the  development  of  the  internal  resources  of  the  country.  All  of  us  recollect 
that  it  was  a  party  contest  some  years  ago  to  vote  down  every  proposition  for 
the  improvement  of  our  rivers  and  harbors.  That  far-seeing  statesman  Judge 
Douglas,  in  1845-46,  appreciating  the  fact  that  the  General  Government  must 
move,  or  else  these  vast  resources  must  continue  to  lie  dormant,  co-operated  with 
the  Whig  party,  which,  under  the  leadership  of  Mr.  Clay,  stood  forth  as  the 
champion  of  the  peculiar  policy  to  which  I  refer,  and  by  unwearied  industry, 
self-sacrifice,  and  untiring  exertions  he  carried  through  his  original  proposition, 
the  scheme  which  inaugurated  and  projected  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad, 
which  runs  700  miles  through  that  great  State,  and  is  now,  next  to  the 
Pennsylvania  Central,  the  most  profitable  railroad  in  the  world.  Go  to 
Chicago,  the  key  of  the  Wost,  and  see,  as  I  have  seen,  in  the  granite  depot  of 
the  Illinois  Central,  destroyed  by  fire  on  the  9th  of  October  last,  and  almost 
since  rebuilt,  from  fifteen  to  twenty-five  hundred  emigrants  from  all  parts  of  the 
world  waiting  to  be  carried  still  farther  West.  I  thought  when  I  had  reached 
Chicago,  800  miles  from  Philadelphia,  that  I  had  penetrated  into  the  heart  of 
the  West,  but  here  I  found  the  Norwegian,  the  German,  and  many  of  the  Latin 
races,  but  particularly  the  Teutonic,  waiting  to  be  carried  forward  to  the  still 
more  distant  West,  with  long  trains  of  cars  filled  with  ready-made  houses,  with 
the  roofs,  the  doors,  the  scantling,  the  windows,  and  everything  necessary  to 
complete  a  perfect  dwelling,  so  that  when  the  emigrant  reached  his  spot  of 
earth  for  which  he  had  paid  from  two  to  five  dollars  an  acre,  all  that  he  had  to 
do  was  to  join  his  house  together,  and  find  himself  in  the  possession  of  a  com- 
petency for  life.  Now  you  will  perceive,  from  what  I  have  stated,  the  double 
fact  is  proved  that  the  emigrant  is  not  only  comfortably  situated,  but  that  the 
lands  reserved  by  the  railroad  have  doubled,  trebled,  quadrupled,  and  quintupled 
their  original  value,  and  hundreds  of  thousands  of  acres  are  still  held  for 
further  advancement.  Judge  Douglas  had  no  superior  in  unselfish  devotion  to 
his  people,  and  the  proof  of  this  devotion  is  found  in  the  fact  that,  while  he  has 
enriched  his  adopted  State  and  poured  millions  upon  millions  into  the  coffers  of 
the  people  and  into  the  treasury  of  the  Illinois  Central  Company,  he  died  poor, 
and  there  is  nothing  left  to  identify  him  with  this  marvelous  cause  but  a  modest 
monument  on  the  shores  of  Lake  Michigan,  raised  by  popular  subscription. 

Now.  my  friends,  I  stand  here  in  the  midst  of  a  civilization  nearly  as  old  as 
Pennsylvania.  What  would  have  been  your  situation  if  those  who  led  you  had 


59 

been  inspired  by  the  example  to  which  I  have  referred  ?     At  last  the  hour  has 
Dome  when  V"iir  dreams    md  tlie  dreams  of  your  fathers,  are  about  to  be  real- 
i/.ed.     [(IheiTs.  |      It  is  among  the  ^lories  of  the  times  that  although  the  war 
parted   our   beloved  country  for  :i  period,  we  are  now  united  in  stronger  bonds 
than  ever  before.      [Applause.]      1  venture  to  assort  that  not  five  per  cent.,  or 
at  lra>r  imr  ten  per  cent.,  of  the  people  of  the  Northern  States  have  the  slighr- 
,.lea  of  tlie   endlos  wealth  of  the-e   tropical    States.      I  speak  of  myself.      I 
hail   heard   of  the   iin-at    Southwest;    1  had  read  of  it ;   I  knew  its  older  states- 
men;  I    knew   rli.-  venerable,  vigorous,  and  always-beloved  Rusk;  I  knew  old 
lloii«t.«n.     [Cheers.  |     I  knew  many  of  your  leading  men  in  the  past,  before 
.-IP-  recent  tr^uides.  but  until  I  came  here  1  had  not   learned   the  extent  of  my 
In    the   Hr.st    p'  i    no   just   idea  of  your  people.      I  had  an 

!>uf   I  had   no  just  view  of  your  people.      You 

will  pardon  me.  my  friends,  when   I    tell  you  that  Texas  was  tome  a  t<rr<i  tnrn<j- 

Mietbinu    like   tlie   inlands   that  Columbus  sailed  to  discover,  when   the 

.  i-h  pe..p]e  tli.niL'ht.  a>   he  placed   his  bark   upon  the  ocean  and  disappeared 

behind   the    hori/.in.    they    had    bidden    him   farewell    forever.      Not  such,   of 

i"ii  of  the  | pie  of  the  Southwest,  but  I  had  no  idea 

uhen  I  me  into  a  region   like  this,  and  I 

p  i»f  the  way.      [  Cheers.]      I    do    not   speak    in   flattery. 

.    pl.iin  i  The  lied  river  seemed  to  be  a 

mi    inhabited    '  :  tS   >te;unboats    floating    coilins,  and    a    sale 

ud   -i  laek  of  explos  eption.      [Laughter.]      I  hardly 

km  pi.  and  majestic  shores  and   looked 

out   up.. n  tin-  i  'id  upon  the  huts  of  the  happy  poor,  I  fell 

that    it  was    !.r_;h    time   that  .  d   study  the  maxim    that   intercourse    and 

•ruin  to  ripen   int..  iVi.-mUhip  and  to  f  uit  into  love.     [Ap- 

plan- 

At  I  ,v  each  other — at  I-IM  we  are  beginning  to  see 

thai  it    l:i>t   the  mists  of  prejudice  are  passing 

Eastern  connections  will  be  so 

;  \<|iiisite  winter  metropoli  will  be 

•  i'N'  u  -them  people,  who  will  come 

••1  return.  I  rthan  1  am  to-night.     For  in  the 

ii  the  threshold  of  the  most  sublime  future 

i        \s  we  Mudy  the  triumphs  of  science  and  see  day 

kili.dli  i'_rhts,  as  we  realize  the  wonders  of  the 

H-ies  of  the  pr»->s  ,  iph.  and  how  a  people  can  only  be  great 

who  avail    fchei  by  which  that  people  are  sur- 

•pt  our  <le.->tiny.  and  we  must   move  with  it,  or  we  must 

die.      |('heer>|      Wed.tren'"  1  i  n  an  era  such  as  t  h  is . 

That  e  .untrv  <>r  that  n  r  ih  m-jlects  or  discards  this  duty  is  guilty,  I 

will  not  say  of  a  i-rime,  but  of  a  blunder  which  some  may  call  a  crime.     Now 

lo.,k  at   the  immediate  eeiii:  id.     See  what  the  effects  of  your 

-ion   t«»d:iviir  You  are  here  at  the  legal  initial  point  of  the 

'id   Paeitie   It-iilway.      (Cheers.]     This  is  the  real  starting  point 

in  Te\a>.      Here  are  to  be  the  v  3  under  the  pledge  of  Colonel  Scott, 

ratified   by   y  i   may  well  congratulate  yourselves  upon 

this  hap;  how  little  you  pay  and  how  much  you  are 

the  beginning  of  the  Pennsylvania  Central  at  Philadelphia, 

it>  termini^  at  Pitt>burg.  and  remember  that  neither  of  the  great  thorough- 

i    Philadelphia  and  Chicago  pierces  a  country  such  as  the  Texas 

and  Pacific  Railway  must  pierce. 


60 

My  friends,  you  will  be  the  vanguard  of  an  athletic  population.  In  the  first 
place  you  will  soon  have  among  you  an  intelligent  laboring  population,  who 
will  force  emigration  into  your  fertile  fields.  From  three  to  five  thousand 
laborers  will  be  needed  along  this  extensive  line,  and  your  own  immediate 
centre  will  share  largely  in  the  profits  of  the  money  "expended  by  the  company. 
[Cheers.]  Your  town  will  be  filled  with  people  from  other  sections,  and  when 
they  come  you  should  cultivate  their  friendship,  and  treat  them  in  such  a  way 
as  to  induce  them  to  settle  among  you.  Treat  them  as  we  treat  all  such  per- 
sons in  the  North. 

Now  think  for  a  moment  of  the  intense  interest  with  which  the  Old  World 
watches  your  progress ;  think  how  essential  your  staple  is  to  the  prosperity  of 
the  Old  World,  and  think,  too,  of  what  would  become  of  the  great  manufactur- 
ing cities  of  Europe  if  it  were  withdrawn  from  them,  and  you  will  the  better 
realize  how  they  will  welcome  the  messengers  of  Colonel  Scott  when  they  go 
forth  into  the  financial  markets  of  the  Old  World  and  ask  assistance  in  his 
name  to  push  forward  these  sixteen  hundred  miles  to  El  Paso,  in  Texas,  and 
San  Diego,  in  California.  [Cheers.]  I  shall  not  be  surprised  to  hear  that  his 
difficulty  will  not  be  in  securing  money,  but  in  choosing  between  the  offers  that 
will  be  presented  to  him.  [Applause.]  With  this  brief  statement,  you  will, 
perhaps,  the  better  understand  how  fortunate  you  have  been  in  the  action  of 
to-day,  and  how  fortunate  you  are  in  your  leader.  All  that  is  necessary  is,  for 
you  to  put  your  own  shoulders  to  the  wheel ;  all  that  is  necessary  is,  to  vitalize, 
to  utilize,  and  to  organize  the  intelligence,  the  experience,  the  ambition  of  the 
people  who  surround  me  to-night.  [Cheers.] 

I  wish  this  were  the  occasion  to  give  the  young  men  of  the  South  before  me 
a  personal  sketch  of  the  career  of  Col.  Scott — not  for  the  purpose  of  speaking 
of  him  in  terms  of  fulsome  adulation,  but  to  show  how  much  the  youth  of  the 
country  may  do  if  they  imitate  his  example.  You  will  scarcely  believe  that 
there  is  hardly  a  .boy  listening  to  me  whose  parents  may  be  suffering  from 
poverty — that  has  had  more  obstacles  to  overcome  than  were  experienced  by 
our  young  leader  as  he  carved  his  upward  way  out  of  the  rocky  steps  of  adver- 
sity. What  a  lesson  is  this  to  the  youth  of  our  country !  What  a  lesson  to 
those  who  have  been,  I  fear,  sometimes  familiarizing  themselves  with  idle  com- 
plaints, and  who,  instead  of  living  in  the  real  present,  and  working  on  to  the 
throbbing  future — live  in  the  memories  of  the  past — these  men  should  recollect 
that  upon  them,  and  upon  them  alone  the  destinies  of  the  future  of  this  great 
country  must  depend.  [Cheers.]  But  apart  from  the  commercial  advantages — 
apart  from  the  fact  that  you  are  sure  to  reap  great  advantages  as  the  head  of 
this  great  enterprise — let  us  contemplate  what  this  work  must  do  in  the  way 
of  peace  and  reconciliation.  In  that  view  it  deserves  the  careful  consideration 
of  the  statesman.  The  mere  fact  that  we  have  not  been  in  common  sympathy 
with  each  other;  the  mere  fact  that  there  has  been  arrogance  on  both  sides, 
the  pride  of  wealth  in  both,  bigotry  and  prejudice  in  both,  the  contempt  that 
one  felt  for  the  other — that  mere  fact  may  be  called  the  prime  cause  of  the 
great  tragedy  which  shook  the  civilized  world,  and  carried  us  nearly  to  politi- 
cal dissolution.  I  venture  to  say  that  if  Jefferson  Davis  could  have  carried  his 
great  programme  of  the  Pacific  Railroad  over  the  32d  parallel  into  effect,  when 
he  presented  his  report  to  Congress  in  1855—56  for  constructing  a  road  from 
Marshall  to  San  Francisco,  there  would  have  been  no  war.  [Cheers.]  Be- 
cause where  the  people  know  each  other  well  they  soon  begin  to  love  each 
other.  If  among  these  valleys  had  been  whirled  the  great  steam  car,  the  great 
evangelizer  of  modern  progress,  your  little  town  would  now  be  a  large  city,  and 
the  people  of  the  North  would  have  mingled  with  the  people  of  the  South,  and 


Gl 

they  would  have  learned  to  know  and  to  love  each  other.     The  people  of  both 
ions  would  have  been  consolidated  by  the  indestructible  agencies  of  science 
I  universal  catholicity. 
Let  us  not  dwell  upon  the  past,  however,  but  march  boldly  into  the  recesses 

future,  and  be  c<jii:il  to  iho  exigencies  of  the  times. 

I  pledge  you  that  whatever  your  own  feelings  maybe  or  may  have  been, 
there  is  not  to-day  in  any  single  Northern  household  any  emotion  for  you  but 
th.-it  of  friendsnip.  [Cheers.]  1  fully  appreciate  your  situation.  "  I  put  my- 
self in  your  place."  I  know  that  you  are,  or  have  been,  the  defeated  party.  I 
share  with  you  in  many  "f  yur  complairiK  while  at  the  same  time  discounting 
them  by  tin-  j  i  -cessities  and  duties  of  the  Government.  I  know,  there- 

•  1  from  us  that  you  have  the  right  to  look  and  to  expect 
liich,  perhaps,  you  ;,  cannot  yet  understand;  and  I  say  to 

hat  th'-r  nte  officer  who  comes  to  Philadelphia 

\\lio  will  n»r  he  warml;.  i  little  more  than  a  year  ago  that  one 

of  the  most  distinguished  men  in  -derate  service,  resident  in  this  very 

e  of  Texas,  identified  prominently  with  the  great  work  in  which  we  are  now 

In  order  to  convince  him  of  the 

trur!  iid  to  you  I  invited  him  to  meet  me  at  the  Union  League 

in  o  0  I'nion  !.  in  passing,  gentlemen,  is  to-day 

one  of  the  most  powerful  social  and  ;  rganizations  in  this  country.  It 

numl»er<  two  ;  of  the  m»  '  •  ;!tivated  of  our  citizens,  and 

is  all  iblican  or.  n.  I  took  my  Confederate  friend 

there  in  order  to  let  him  Bee  h»w  we  1  to  ex-Confederates,  and  in- 

1  him  to<>  M  prominent  Republicans — such  men 

as  Henry  C.  Car  -  11  Orne,  Daniel  Dougherty, 

and  others — all  of  them  extreme  men,  and  when  we  sat  down  to  the  table  I 
!.  talk  as  JOU  would  talk  in  Texas,  .lustily  your  actions, 
re  us,"  and  I  n~  friends,  h"  did  so,  and  while  this 

proceeding  was  going  on  theliaUsof  the  League  were  filled  with  merchants, 
who  hear  .  .  was  enter  1  with  no  l^-lings  of  vindictive- 

ness  or  ai:  They  liked  the  example,  Of  course, 

my  L  •  If  into  the  witricss-l>ox  and  bore  a  c 

-  an  even!  i  :  ihle — one  I  shall  never  forget — and 
as  I  took  him  into  the  depotof  t  nia  Central,  and  put  him  in  the 

ig  through  such  an  experi- 
ence ;'0  spirit  of  progress  in  the  North,  and  felt 
that   ;h.-  d  iv     t'  peace  and  recon*  raa  at  hand.     There  is  no  truth  more 
ut  to  my  mind,  that  no  man  e  liappy  who  lived  upon  hate.     I 

to  control  him  is  not  only  an  illogical 

but  that  the  individual  specimens  are  so 

few  as  simply  it  which   1  3  friendship,  that  which 

-  ivi.Mir  of  mankind,  "  Forgive  us 

Kisses  as  we  forgive  those 'who  •  st  us."     Colonel  Scott 

f  as  a  politician,  nor  as  a  sucee— ful  warrior  showing  his  scars  ;  he  does 
not  desire  to  build  this  great  \\-nrk  entirely  with  foreign  capital,  but  wants  the 
wealth  and  confidence  of  the  conmmnir.  through  which  it  passes;  and  I  know 
that  as  the  int. •Ili-ence  of  his  pr  i  vigorous  action  passes  to  the  North, 

it  will  be  as  a  victory.     It  will  prove  that  the  long  delay  of  which  you 

have  been  the  victims  has  passed  away,  and  that  the  people  of  the  North  will 
feel  that  at  last  we  are  to  have  a  trans-continental  road  through  a  region  free 
from  the  blinding  snows  of  the  middle  and  northern  routes — a  tropical  region, 
an  Arcadia,  a  State  more  than  a  State,  an  empire,  whose  history  itself  is  a 


62 

romance,  and  yet  not  less  a  romance  than  the  reality  of  its  splendid  material 
wealth.  Bat  if  I  were  to  talk  a  day  I  could  not  say  more,  and  therefore  I  bid 
you  good-night. 


KAUFMAN. 
A  SERENADE  BY  THE  CIT  /FAS — MORE  SPEECHES. 

On  Tuesday  evening,  June  25,  at  Kaufman,  Kaufman  county,  Texas,  a  sere- 
nade was  tendered  to  Colonel  Thomas  A.  Scott  and  his  party  while  sojourning 
at  the  Gibbs  House,  in  response  to  which  Colonel  Forney  spoke  as  follows  : 

As  our  little  party,  after  a  rough  but  entertaining  ride,  entered  this  interest- 
ing town  to-day,  I  was  reminded  of  the  fact  that  the  gentleman  whose  name  it 
bears  was  my  intimate  friend.  I  knew  David  S.  Kaufman  well  while  he  was  a 
Representative  in  Congress  from  this  very  district  when  I  was  an  officer  of  the 
House.  He  was  a  native  of  Cumberland  county,  Pennsylvania,  and,  therefore, 
if  any  of  his  posterity  is  here  present,  and  I  ain  glad  to  know  that  many  of  his 
friends  are  here,  it  should  be  gratifying  for  them  to  know  that  he  left  the  im- 
pression of  rare  integrity,  great  ability,  and  high  personal  and  social  traits  upon 
all  who  knew  him,  and  he  is  still  well  remembered  at  the  National  Capital  as 
one  of  the  truest  and  best  of  men.  [Cheers.]  It  is  pleasant  to  be  in  a  locality 
which  bears  the  name  of  a  native  of  Pennsylvania.  It  shows  that,  after  all 
that  has  transpired  since  his  death,  there  still  exists  in  us  the  vitality  which  no 
blood,  no  death,  no  bitterness,  no  revenge  can  extinguish.  Strange  to  say  that, 
although  you  are  a  part  of  this  country,  you  are  unknown,  to  a  large  degree,  to 
the  great  North,  of  which  I  am  a  citizen.  Your  State  is  almost  like  a  distant 
planet  which  shines  afar,  is  wondered  at,  and  exciting  curiosity  to  know  who 
inhabits  it. 

Colonel  Scott  is  here  as  the  head  of  the  greatest  enterprise  in  modern  civili- 
zation, passing  directly  through  the  heart  of  Texas.  He  comes  to  obliterate  sec- 
tionalism— that  poisonous  bane  of  our  country,  which  has  done  so  much  to  make 
us  hate  and  despise  each  other."  He  conies  to  inaugurate  a  physical  and  mental 
agency,  a  new  era  in  a  New-old  World,  and  will  be  followed  by  the  great  millions 
of  the  North,  who  only  have  to  be  informed  of  your  extraordinary  advantages — 
advantages  that  bless  no  other  people  on  God's  footstool.  They  will  come  to 
share  these  advantages  with  you.  You  will  see  how  they  manage  their  affairs, 
and  you  will  imitate  them  in  all  that  deserves  imitation. 

If  you  will  permit  me,  my  friends,  I  will  now  say  a  few  frank  words.  With 
us  we  welcome  the  stranger  without  reference  to  politics  or  religion.  We  re- 
ceive him,  we  cultivate  him,  we  treat  him  well,  as  though  he  were  born  among 
us.  We  believe  there  is  no  such  thing  as  a  Republic  without  such  a  course; 
there  can  be  no  such  thing  as  civil  government  without  it.  We  believe  in  the 
freest  utterance  and  in  the  freest  action  ;  we  believe  in  the  perfect  independence 
of  man,  always,  of  course,  within  the  bounds  of  propriety  and  law.  Now  let 
me  say  to  you,  that  the  first  thing  you  should  do  when  an  emigrant  comes  here 
is  to  receive  him  kindly  and  cordially;  make  him  feel  at  home  among  you,  and 
aid  and  encourage  him  in  carrying  out  his  ideas  of  trade,  commerce,  and  agri- 
culture. This  is  the  true  idea  of  fostering  and  encouraging  emigration,  and 
until  you  accept  it  there  can  be  no  such  thing  as  a  permanent  and  happy  popu- 
lation. 

How  blessed  you  are !  Look  at  this  wonderful  prairie,  which,  when  I  entered 
it  to-day,  after  a  long  and  dusty  ride  over  the  deep  sandy  roads,  exhilarated  me 


63 

like  a  draught  of  nectar.  We  felt  when  we  first  struck  that  beautiful  expanse 
as  if  new  life  had  been  instilled  into  our  veins.  I  never  have  seen  such  a  sight 
before;  I  saw  ;i  shinini*  garden  blooming  with  (Jod's  best  gifts,  and  said  to  my- 
<  'an  a  people  thus  highly  favored  forget  their  wondrous  surroundings  ? 
Can  they  remain  still  and  indifferent,  when  the  heart  of  the  whole  world  is 
throbbing,  and  when  mankind  everywhere  is  rising  to  a  higher  realization  of  his 

I,  ;-ri<l  advancing  rapidly  to  the  (indhcad?      [Applause.] 

But    1  am  not  here  to  make  a  speech.     1  simply  came  to  thank  you  for  the 

i  have  paid  to  our  distinguished  chief,  to  say  to  you  that  he  means 

work,  and  that  his  word  is  as  go«  !>ond.     [Cheers.]     This  is  not  a  mere 

:it.     He  r  North,  which  wants  to  be  your  friend. 

You  should   not  complain  it'  th>   '!  d   Pacific  does  not  pass  immediately 

through  your  town.      It  will  certainly  pass  through  your  county,  and  your  peo- 

,-  oonstru  ••  il  line,  which  will  afford  you  facilities  f,»r 

the  t  raii.-purfatioM  1   and   valuable  products  of  your  region.      You 

'i:it  ( '.il.»i:  Is  to  fulfill  his  mission,  and  it  becomes 

the   duty  nf  the  citi/.ens  ,,i'  Kaufman   county  to  respond   liberally  in  aid   of  the 

enter;. 

We  1  passed  through  a  Considerable  portion  of  your  State,  and  have 

everywhere   1-  i  with   kii.  <'.»ltmrl  Scott  is  accompanied  by 

t   ability  in  th.        :  itive   roles.      His  child'  engineer,  (.ien 

ville   M.  p..-!  •  id  and  scientific  oilicer,  as  is  proven 

he  manit  -frd   in  t:  completion  of  the  I'nion    Pacific 

<  >.;r  IK  lircctor,  M  of  Baltimore,  is  a  gentleman 

«•!'  1  d   ki.  .wl  dge,  ami  all   h  .fes  liave  been 

;ed  them.      From  these 

indie  to  carry  out  his  part,  of  the 

en,  r  M-.st  in-. merit.        \>    far  as  I   am  nmn-nu-d,  I  can 

assure  you  I  will   do  n,  »ur  resources  belore  the  people  of  the 

I  Apjdause.J     Thanking  you  again 
-lit. 


PALLAS 

A    I .  \  >f,ONEL   J.    W.    FORNEY, 

DMAS     A.    SCoTT,    AM)    Cnl. o.\KI»  . I.     W.    Til  IIOPK  MORTON 

:rge  crowd  assembled   in  itch  field  House,  at  Dallas,  on 

Thu  .  witli  a   band   of  music,  to  listen  to  addresses  rela- 

iie  Texas  and  The   meeting  was  organized  by  Col. 

:  Colonel  J.  W.  Forney,  who  spoke  as  follows  : 

I    n.'ed    not  say,  as  I  have  said   elsewhere  in  this 

Star  .teful  we  are  for  the  opportunity  of  meeting  the  people  of  Texas. 

Place  yourself  in   my  position   for  a  moment,  and  you  will  perhaps  realize  the 

it  prompts  me  to  say  that  I  belong  to  a  large  class  who  have  heretofore 

you,  millions  of  whom  do  not  know  you  yet.     There- 

when  my  friend,  Colonel  Scott,  the  president  of  this  great  enterprise,  which 

IS  to  do  so  much    for   you  and   for  the  whole  country,  asked  me  to  accompany 

him,  I  came,  if  only  to*  understand,  as   far  as  T  could,  the  merits  of  your  case, 

not  siiuplv  with  reference  to  the  great  railroad  which  is  soon  to  pierce  through 


64 

this  magnificent  valley,  but  also  in  reference  to  your  social  condition  and  natural 
resources.  I  am  not  an  old  man,  and  yet  I  am  old  enough  to  have  been  inti- 
mately acquainted  with  men  contemporaneous  with  your  struggle  incident  to 
the  admission  of  Texas  into  the  Union  of  these.  States.  If  the  Democratic 
party  had  not  done  anything  else  to  entitle  it  to  historical  remembrance,  it 
would  be  the  fact  that  to  its  exertions  alone  are  we  indebted  for  the  addition 
of  this  splendid  empire  to  the  great  territory  now  governed  by  the  Constitution 
of  the  United  States.  [Cheers.] 

It  does  not  need  any  special  illustration  or  any  special  imagination  to  show 
what  would  have  been  our  fate  had  this  great  empire  continued  to  maintain  its 
independence,  "  hanging,"  so  to  speak,  to  use  the  language  of  an  illustrious 
personage,  "  on  the  verge  of  the  Constitution/'  making  of  itself  a  rendezvous 
and  an  arsenal,  and  contributing  by  its  means  to  keep  up  an  excitement  in  the 
neighboring  Republic  of  Mexico.  Surely  it  must  have  become  a  constant 
source  of  irritation,  a  running  sore.  Ever  since  then  it  has  grown  with  the 
growth  and  strengthened  with  the  strength  of  the  old  Republic,  and  to-day  there 
is  no  portion  of  our  continent  which  is  attracting  so  much  attention  as  the  State 
of  Texas.  It  is,  in  fact,  the  most  interesting  of  our  commercial  problems.  My 
mind  reverts  to  the  period,  now  nearly  thirty  years  ago,  when  that  great  states- 
man, gone  to  rest,  was  in  the  prime  of  his  life — I  refer  to  a  native  son  of  Penn- 
sylvania, Robert  J.  Walker,  of  Mississippi,  who  gave  to  the  enterprise  of  the 
annexation  of  Texas  all  the  matchless  gifts  of  his  mind,  his  rare  intelligence,  his 
magnetic  oratory,  his  ripe  experience,  and  that  unwearied  industry  which  had 
no  match  in  the  men  of  his  age,  save  in  the  person  of  that  other  statesman, 
Stephen  A.  Douglas,  of  Illinois,  who  came  upon  the  stage  in  1843,  and  who 
threw  himself  into  the  conflict  with  all  the  ardor  of  his  nature.  When  in  the 
gallery  of  the  House  of  Representatives  in  1845,  I  listened  to  the  remarkable 
debate  between  John  Quincy  Adams,  of  Massachusetts,  and  Douglas,  on  Texas,  I 
was  very  young.  Mr.  Adams  made  a  dogmatic  statement  in  regard  to  the  bound- 
ary between  Texas  and  Mexico,  the  truth  of  which  was  challenged  by  Judge 
Douglas,  then  a  young  member,  which  excited  the  ire  of  the  Massachusetts  sage, 
who  seemed  surprised  that  one  apparently  so  inexperienced  should  take  issue 
with  him  on"  a  plain  historical  fact,  upon  which  Douglas  sent  to  the  Speaker's 
desk  a  letter  which  he  asked  the  clerk  to  read,  in  which  the  very  ground 
assumed  by  himself  was  taken  by  John  Quincy  Adams  when  he  was  Secretary 
of  State  in  1819.  The  old  man  had  forgotten  what  he  had  written  twenty  odd 
years  before,  and  turning  around  to  the  young  statesman  of  Illinois,  he  con- 
gratulated him  upon  the  beginning  of  his  career,  while  gracefully  admitting  the 
error  in  which  he  had  fallen.  These  events,  my  friends,  I  bring  before  your 
minds  now,  to  show  you  that  the  addition  of  your  great  Commonwealth  to  the 
Union  was  a  matter  of  national  interest  even  then;  and  now  standing  here,  I 
am  reminded  of  another  coincidence,  that  if  the  name  of  a  Pennsylvanian  has 
been  assigned  to  the  adjoining  county  of  Kaufman,  this  county  is  called  after 
George  Mifflin  Dallas,  of  Philadelphia.  As  if  to  complete  this  chain  of  coinci- 
dences, Col.  Thomas  A.  Scott,  of  Pennsylvania,  after  long  delays  is  called  to 
the  presidency  of  the  great  Texas  and  Pacific  Railway.  With  his  fresh  credit, 
in  the  vigor  of  his  manhood  and  his  long  years  of  experience,  his  career  and  his 
example  are  a  lesson  to  every  young  man.  When  he  speaks  he  means  what  he 
says,  and  in  our  community  he  is  the  type  of  a  man  who  never  breaks  his  word. 
[Applause.] 

You  will  hear  from  the  lips  of  our  president,  in  his  own  quick,  sharp,  bright 
way,  of  his  progress.  [  Cheers.]  I  am  here,  gentlemen,  to  congratulate  the 
country  upon  the  auspicious  beginning;  I  am  here  to  say  to  you  that,  while  I 


65 

aongratulate  you  upon  the  u  ha  bounteous  nature  has  bestowed  on  you, 

I  cannot  congratulate  you  upon  other  things.  I  wish  I  could  see  now  the 
representatives  of  other  nationalil  us  from  all  the  States  of  the  Union — 

men  from  the  different  countries  in  the  Old  World;  I  wish  I  could  see  also  the 
youth,  the  energy,  the  ambition,  the  daring  of  the  great  industries.  This  is 
what  you  ne  M».-ed  foreign  emigration  and  the  athletic  giants  of  trade 

in  the  New  World.  That  they  have  not  been  here  before  is  not  your  fault; 
but  may  be  partly  ov  that  the  National  Government  has 

:    its   ;iid   to   the   development  of  the   internal  resources  and 
indi.  Q.      Il:ul  the  same  policy  been  granted  that  was  awarded 

to  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad  rumiin.  through  the  State  like  a  great  backbone 
and  building  up  on  the  short  >-hiuran  the  most  unique  city  in  the 

world  ;  had  that  j.  -uld  not  have  been  compelled 

-t  poued  till  i  >7_  and  then  to  be  initiated  by 
Nortl 

"t'this  road,  would  have  been  utilized 

in    IX.V>,  dui-i  ninUt  ration,  but  for  the  calamitous  theory  that 

itovernm-  its  power  for  tin-  tle\  i-iopment  ot'  the 

00  liTii  rnterp:  1  has  bloomed 

•  w.'i'ks.  born  of  the  brain  of  able 

:i,  ha\e  V  >[  now   I   hail  the  day  when,  with 

Him.-nt,    the>«-    important     lines    are    to     be    completed. 

lember  how  th.  m  heart  stirred  when  your  great  staple 

Was    withdrawn    from  ::ion    impended    in    ureat     manu- 

-men  of  the  Old  World 
iu  ;  you  will  at  the  same  time  understand 
;.  will  be  honored  abroad.  The  story  of 

a  n.m;iu 

ought  to  visit  us  and  see  t  :  tul  n-sults  of  this  great  achieve- 

•  to  see  h<>  State.  how  it  is  bound  to  our 

lines — how  it  has   de\vl"p.-d   our   coal,  and   iron,  and   oil — 

that  great  element  whi  ;   sinking  rredir   in    the   midst  of 

bow    it    has   enabled    Philadelphia   to 

become  one  of  s  in  the  world.     And  yet  this  is 

ill. 

Iroad    Company  owns,   controls,  and   manages  some 
;    rail,  includin  a  trunk,  :'.'>('•  miles,  to   IMttsburg.     When 

1  iring  of  its  managers,  the  skill  and 
.nticipate  the  time   when  this  great  work 

shall  tin;  world.  PS   has  been  proposed  to  run 

i  Philadelphia  to  1.  aad  win.  n  that  line  is  completed  we  shall  enter 

into  .on  with   .v  :.  other  great  ports.     Then  come  the  great 

with  the  Pacific  Ocean,  so  that  by  means  of  that  instru- 
ment -ility  th«-  Oriental  nations  and  the  civilizations  of  Europe  will  be   brought 
:umunieation  with  us.     And  how  must  this  affect  you  ?    What  has 
;  done  iu   Pennsylvania  will  b  ed  with  added  wonders;  but  as  I  see 

thousands  of  emigrants  pourimr  upon  you  by  means  of  great  steam  lines,  aided 
bv  ti  os  of  the  National  ( iovernment,  touching  at  Galveston  and  New 

ibe  the  future  of  your  section.     All  that  these  vast 

millions   need   is  to  be  informed.  a.s  I  have  been  informed,  of  your  wonderful 

I   would  take   any    Kuropean   statesman   along   the  road  we  have 

traversed  from   Philadelphia,  this  very  day  two  weeks,  along  the  Mississippi, 


66 

then  conduct  him  through  that  bizarre  Red  river,  thence  to  Shreveport,  thence" 
to  those  great  savannas  which  burst  upon  us  yesterday  morning,  after  having 
toiled  through  the  heat,  dust,  and  morass  for  several  days,  and  as  he  reached 
the  prairie  an  impression  would  be  created  that  never  could  be  forgotten. 
Looking  at  it,  not  in  the  eyes  of  imagination,  but  contemplating  it  in  the  very 
presence  of  real  facts,  you  are  in  the  vestibule  o£  the  greatest  future  that  any 
people  have  ever  known. 

Think  of  the  contrast  between  your  almost  perpetual  spring  and  summer  and 
our  long  and  bitter  winters,  where  when  anything  is  done  it  must  be  done  by 
hard  work.  Our  Pennsylvania  farmers  n.-e  with  the  lark  and  work  late  into  the 
shades  of  the  evening  for  the  purpose  of  accumulating  enough  to  keep  them 
during  winter.  We  of  the  North  have  no  such  blessings  as  you.  Nature 
has  been  such  a  bounteous  mother  that  you  can  almost  live  without 
labor;  but  I  trust  that  when  these  new*  elements  are  brought  around  you, 
you  will  learn  that  there  is  nothing  so  honorable  as  honest  labor.  [  Cheers.] 
Until  that  lesson  is  taught,  until  it  is  infused  into  your  blood,  into  your 
brain,  and  into  your  brawn,  you  cannot  be  worthy  of  the  destiny  which 
God  Almighty  intended  for  you.  The  dignity  of  labor — where  is  there  a  thing 
so  worthy  of  comtemplation  and  ambition  ?  Take  the  men  of  the  North  and  the 
men  among  you  who  have  risen  by  sheer  force  of  intellect  and  by  hard  manual 
labor,  and  see  how  they  have  brightened  your  history.  Let  the  man  who  has 
risen  by  toil,  and  who  has  made  his  way  by  his  hands  and  his  brain,  be  with 
you  as  he  is  with  us,  a  nobleman,  and  your  fate  is  fixed.  I  believe,  gentlemen, 
I  have  said  all  that  is  necessary  for  me  to  say,  and  I  only  repeat  my  sincere 
thanks  for  the  opportunity  afforded  me  to  meet  my  fellow-countrymen  of  Texas. 


SPEECH    OF   COLONEL   THOMAS   A.  SCOTT. 

GENTLEMEN:  I  am  here  before  you  to-night  almost  unexpectedly  to  me, 
and  certainly  unexpected  one  year  ago,  as  the  executive  officer  of  ihe  great 
Texas  an4  Pacific  Railway.  Your  committee  has  thought  it  best  that  I  should 
say  a  word  to  the  people  of  Dallas  as  to  what  this  corporation  proposes  to  do 
with  this  magnificent  work.  What  I  say  will  be  very  short  and  to  the  point. 
Within  the  last  four  months  the  company  has  been  reorganized,  electing  me  its 
president.  The  Congress  of  the  United  States  has  since  granted  all  the  legis- 
lation that  we  desired  in  order  to  perfect  the  financial  scheme  to  build  this  road. 
It  has  been  very  liberal.  In  the  various  communities  and  cities  we  have  visited 
in  the  State  of  Texas,  we  found  the  people  ready  and  willing  to  push  forward 
this  enterprise  as  rapidly  as  possible,  but  all  your  energies  will  be  required  to 
accomplish  this  result. 

I  may  say  that  the  financial  arrangements  are  now  in  such  a  condition  that  I 
can  assure  you  the  work  will  be  commenced  within  sixty  days  in  connection 
with  a  line  westward  in  this  direction.  I  may  say  further  that  within  the  next 
five  years,  unless  some  unforeseen  event  occurs,  I  believe  we  can  drive  this  road 
to  the  shores  of  the  Pacific.  [Applause.]  Certainly  if  I  live  and  keep  my 
health  it  will  be  my  effort  to  construct  the  Texas  and  Pacific  to  the  ocean. 
[Cheers.]  We  want  the  people  of  Texas  to  take  hold  in  earnest  in  this  matter. 
One  year  has  already  been  lost  through  unavoidable  delays,  and  we  may  need  a 
little  time  from  your  Legislature  to  complete  the  work — but  the  construction 
once  commenced  will  go  rapidly  forward,  beyond  question.  [Applause.] 

Since  we  have  entered  Texas,  at  Shreveport,  Marshall,  and  Jefferson  we 
have  met  with  the  greatest  kindness,  courtesy,  and  liberality.  Every  attention 
has  been  shown  to  us,  and  every  proposition  submitted  has  been  accepted.  My 


07 

effort  has  always  been  to  make  the  request  for  aid  as  small  as  possible,  as  we 
proj  in  (hi.-  ease.  My  impr.-— iou  now  is  that  the  line  can  be  com- 

pleted here  within  the  next  fourteen  or  tit  tee  a  months  from  this  date,  and  in 
two  -hall  make  the  junction  at  Fort  Worth;  and  I  have  yet  to  find  a 

citizen  of  the  State  of  Texas,  with  whom  \ve  have  discussed  the  subject,  that 

not  say  at  OIHV  there  will  bo  no  difficulty  whatever  in  having  the  time 
,  if  that  may  he  mves  ar\ '.  One  thing  is  certain,  when  the  work  is 

eommciieeu  it  must  and  will  be  pushed  through  to  the  Pacific.  [Applause.] 
I  do  not  know  that  I  .-an  .-ay  an\  thing  more  except  to  repeat  the  work  shall  be 
.•••mm. -need  at  "He,-,  and  shall  go  right  on  until  we  reach  the  shores  of  the 
Pacific.  [Applause.] 

i.  \v.  niuncK MORTON. 

v  then  iin  ll«>n.    I.  W.  Throckmorton,  who  said  : 

\\i>   <ii  \TU;MI:.N  :     I    I'eel    that    I 

i  no  intn'dii.-tion  t<>  th.    c  D   this  part  of  Texas,  and  more  especially 

ieel  i  hat   !  shen   (lit;   question  of  railroads   is   under 

:i<-n.     I  feel  tl.  indeed  about  to  realixe  the  conceptions  1'ormed 

well  in  1852-53  that  one  of  the  favorite 

children  -eiited  t  •  :hf  American  people,  and    especially 

.  tin-   project    of  i  hi*   introduction  of  a   thoroughfare   to 

:ns.      It  was  your   own 

'fh. .mi-. I     Ilii  f  >'on>trueting   a   road  which  should 

unit'  Q8.       Hi      mighty  mind   con- 

that  purpose  was  through  the  territory  of 

I'erhaps  he  saw  it  in  th  -rely  wish  he  could 

w  years  longer  to  have  seen  the  reali/ation  of  his  hopes.     Up  to 

i  Hi-Mill. -T  ••!'  the    Legislutu  is  I  had   not  the  good 

lori  i;  .  ision  he  e-ime  and  presented 

to  the  ]  through  his  instrumentality 

i  law  that  brought  int..  •  the  first  corporation  which 

•  we  are  considering  to-night.     Ivemeuiber 

;:iid   in   (he  anxiety  we  felt  to  secure  this 

thor<  :   .")!.  tied  up  two  degrees  of  our  magnifi- 

l'r->m  tlie  ^tate  that  this  grand  project 

mi-1  roll,  •  1   on.    and    the   father  of  this   important 

I    this   life.      He   did    not  live  to  see  it  consummated,  but  I 
it,  from  the  n  — urance>  of  Colonel   Scott  to-night,  that  the  grand 
i.      Can  you,  my  friends,  imagine  how  import- 
ant It  ,our  immediate  locality  that    this  great  work  should    be  carried 

thro;; 

is   I    drew  a  picture  for  my  fellow-citizens  something  like 

this:   lin  ,  ion  of  the  country,  upon  the  banks  of 

;i  mighty  .-tiv.nn—  a  sin-am  from  wh-  -•  i-i-om  there  arose  no  pestilential  vapors 

• .  aiu  iipt.n  whose  surface  the  commerce  of  the  world  might  ride  in  perfect 

n  imagine  what  this  country  would  be  if  we  had  such  a  stream  as 

the  Red  river  L'liding  along  noi>ele>-ly  from  the  great  waters  of  the  Pacific  con- 

neetini:  us  with  the  waters  of  the  Atlantic?      Vv'hat  a  country  this  would  be  if 

nkfl  of  Mich  a  stream  and  could  transport  your  com- 
merce t.»  all  parts  of  the  world,  and  could  see  the  traffic  of  all  civilized  nations 
borne  on  its  waters.  Instead  of  the  river;  however,  we  may  realize  the  picture 


68 

in  the  construction  of  this  great  work.  The  commerce  of  the  world  may  travel 
through  your  midst,  and  make  you  what  my  friend  has  intimated  you  deserve 
to  be,  the  greatest  of  the  people  on  this  continent.  I  mean  in  the  industrial 
and  productive  resources  of  the  States.  [Cheers.]  Is  this  grand  picture  to  be 
realized?  I  fsel  that  it  is  in  your  power  to  havex  it  verified.  Texas  has  done 
nobly  to  bring  about  the  consummation  of  this  project  by  her  generous  munifi- 
cence with  her  vast  public  domain.  But  it  depends  upon  the  brain  and  capital 
of  our  Northern  countrymen  to  complete  it. 

3Iy  friends,  we  have  here  two   representatives  of  the  two  great 

elements  of  our  Northern  countrymen — the  one  representing  the  great  commer- 
cial interests,  who  stands  unparalleled  as  the  projector  and  builder  of  railroads 
[cheers],  and  the  other  the  representative  of  the  intelligent  press  of  the  country 
— and  it  gives  me  pleasure  to  tell  you  that  when  I  first  went  to  the  pol; 
metropolis  of  this  nation  I  met  Colonel  Forney,  then  working  heartily  for  this 
enterprise.  [Applause.]  It  was  a  common  platform,  upon  which  Texas,  New 
York,  and  all  the  States  of  this  Union  could  meet  without  one  discordant  vote. 
Allow  me,  my  fellow- citizens,  to  remind  him  of  the  expressions  which  fell  from 
his  lips  on  that  occasion.  When  we  met  the  gentlemen  of  New  York,  he  asked 
me  to  give  an  account  of  the  condition  of  the  people  of  this  section,  and  after  I 
had  done  so,  he  said  that  the  northern  and  middle  portions  of  this  country  had 
received  the  bounty  of  the  Government  to  aid  in  the  construction  of  two  lines 
of  railroads  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific,  aud  that  he  thought  it  should  also 
be  bestowed  with  equal  liberality  on  the  Southern  States.  [Cheers.]  The 
construction  of  this  road  is  not  only  a  matter  of  necessity  for  commerce,  but  an 
act  of  justice  to  the  people  of  the  South — and  its  construction  by  the  Govern- 
ment would  go  far  towards  healing  the  ghastly  wounds  of  the  recent  conflict, 
and  would  bind  together  the  hearts  of  our  countrymen. 

.ing  can  be  done  by  statesmanship,  calculated  to  do  so  much  good,  as  the 
construction  of  this  great  work  throughout  the  length  aud  breadth  of  these 
great  States.  I  felt  that  there  was  real  statesmanship  in  these  remarks  that 
would  tend  to  the  happy  reconstruction  of  the  Union,  and  would  do  more 
towards  producing  that  result  than  any  of  the  measures  which  Congress  had 
passed  on  the  subject.  I  felt  that  if  we  have  our  grand  work  completed  you 
can  mingle  with  our  Northern  countrymen,  and  that  the  same  happy  lesson  my 
friend  has  experienced  since  entering  into  Texas  would  be  experienced  by 
thousands  of  others. 

I  desire  to  say  to  my  Pennsylvania  friends  that  they  have  seen  but  a  small 
portion  of  Texas.  They  have  not  seen  the  broad  prairies  teeming  with  ripening 
corn,  and  with  thousands  of  acres  of  cotton ;  but  let  me  call  your  attention  to  a 
single'  instance,  that  will  illustrate  what  I  desire  to  impress  upon  their  minds  in 
regard  to  the  fertility  of  our  soil,  and  the  adaptation  to  every  variety  of  pro- 
ducts. In  the  county  of  Dallas  there  are  less  than  six  hundred  thousand  acres 
of  land.  When  I  say  that  five  hundred  thousand  acres  of  this  laud  can  be  put 
into  cultivation,  and  all  of  which  is  productive,  I  am  not  very  remote  from 
the  fact. 

It  is  not  a  fanciful  picture.  It  may  be  a  little  beyond  the  reality,  but  when 
I  speak  of  my -county  of  Collin  I  am  quite  sure  I  am  within  the  bounds.  Ima- 
gine what  would  be  the  production  and  what  would  be  the  exportation  from  a 
single  county  of  Texas  it'  we  had  the  facilities  of  transporting  our  own  crops  to 
market.  We  will  have  every  acre  in  Collin  county  under  cultivation  in  five 
years  if  the  road  is  constructed.  [Applause.]  Suppose  one  hundred  thousand 
acres  are  planted  in  cotton,  and  you  only  raise  one-half  bale  to  the  acre,  there 
would  be  fifty  thousand  bales  of  cotton.  Now  let  me  ask  some  gentlemen  what 


69 

these  fifty  thousand  bales  would  be  worth  to-day  ?  That  is  but  a  slight  sample 
of  what  one  county  can  do  in  the  way  of  production.  We  want  labor  to  bring 
this  land  into  cultivation  in  order  to  bring  about  this  production.  Give  us  the 
commercial  facilities,  and  emigration  will  pour  into  the  country,  and  the  Texas 
and  Pacific  Railway  will  do  a  greater  amount  of  business  than  any  other  line  in 
the  country. 

A  single  county  in  Texas  is  capable  of  raising  and  exporting  for  the 
necessities  of  the  Old  World  as  much  wheat  and  corn  as  could  be  furnished  by 
any  other  State  in  the  Union.  I  will  say  that  Collin  can  produce  more  for  the 
markets  of  the  world  than  many  of  the  States  of  the  Union,  and  I  feel  that  I 

•  r'mij  nothing  but  what  is  true.      [Cheers.] 

My  t'fllow-c'itizens,  you  have  been  iu  anticipation  a  long  time  of  the  con- 
struction of  this  Texas  and  I  ;«i.   The  present  organization  is  effect- 
mi  appreciates  the  nec»  >truction,  but  there  is  also  something 
is  to  do.     1  feel  that  no  work  of  this  kind  can  be  accomplished  without  an 
nary  amount  of   mental  and  physical   labor  and    the    needful    cash. 
»  be  built  upon  wind,  and  while  you  expect  these  gentle- 
men to  pu>h  this  work  rapidly  f.-i  i  must  remember  they  have  to  lay  the 
ind-work  of  a  fin;m                                   11  enable  them  to  prosecute  the  enter- 
troadj  from  the  tin  mtil  it  is  completed.    I  wish  that 
the  hardy  pioneers  and  early  settlers  who  first  came    to    this   country,  who 
1  upon  buffalo  and  \                icat,  corn  bread,  and  dried  beef,  could  he  here 
to  re.tli/'',  in  the  _T »\vth  and  prosperity  of  our  State,  their  fondest  anticipation. 
:i  Mil  John  Liedendiem  rould  be  here  to  see  Dallas  what  his  early  fancy 
:v.l  it.      I  t',-,-1  that  thflM  IT-- n:l.-:i   •>  <  >m€  here  impressed  with  the  import- 
ance of  building  this  railroad,  and  that  the  work  should  be  done  as  quickly  as 
possible,  and  1                                  will  do  more  to  develop  our  country  than  any- 
.:  we  can  do.     As  a  people  we  are  mighty  and  powerful  in  resources,  but 
we  are  miserably  poor  when  we  come  to  the  means  necessary  to  carry  on  this 
ntic  project.     The  world  stood  iu  amazement  when  the  idea  was  conceived 
rcmpt  to  build  the  Union  Pacific  and  the  line  that  ran  through  a  still  more 
portion  of  this  country.     The  world  was  astonished  to  think  that  any 
peoplo  under  the  sun  should  attempt  such  an  enterprise  while  a  deadly  conflict 
was  raging  between  the  two  sections,  and  while  the  Mississippi  was  being  dyed 
with  the  blood  of  our  coun                 :m«l  win -n  the  war  came  to  an  end  I  was 
truly  astonished  to  know  that  the  Union  Pacific  had  been  nearly  completed 
while  the  great  striur«,'le  was  t                re  between  us. 

This  is  a  lesson  that  should  be  improved  upon,  and  by  the  aid  the  Legisla- 
ture has  given,  and  the  sure  encouragement  of  the  future,  I  expect  to  see  this 
1  work  consummated.     Think  what  Dallas  will  be  twenty  years  from  to- 
if  this  great  railroad  is  completed.     There  is  no  tongue  that  can  depict  to 
the  people  in  proper  colors  what  this  glorious  region  will  be  in  twenty  years 
from  the  consummation  of  that  grand  work.     We  have  the  most  magnificent 
stretch  of  territory,  and  the  most  productive  region  on  the  continent.     When 
I  say  this,  I  speak  it  soberly,  and  only  say  what  I  believe  to  be  true.     [Cheers.] 
only  have  we  the  productive  capacity  to  supply  the  Old  World  with  more 
>n  than  has  ever  been  raised  before,  but,  if  we  had  the  labor,  Texas  alone 
could  produce  more  cotton  than  has  been  produced  anywhere  else  in  the  world. 
[Applause.] 

Take  the  fourteen,  fifteen,  or  twenty  counties  surrounding  us,  and  remember 
that  their  wheat  crops  are  now  turning  out  and  averaging  from  nineteen  to  forty- 
three  bushels  to  the  acre.  Think  of  it !  If  all  these  fourteen,  fifteen,  or  twenty 
counties,  were  covered  with  waving  wheat  fields,  or  bending  beneath  the  golden, 


70 

ripening  corn,  they  would  produce  enough  food  to  supply  almost  the  entire 
civilized  world,  and  we  can  contribute,  perhaps,  more  to  the  support  of  life  and 
to  the  support  of  manufactures  than  any  other  people  on  this  continent. 
[Cheers.]  Our  lands  will  not  only  produce  wheat,  oats,  corn,  cotton,  and  to- 
bacco, but  are  equally  adapted  to  all  the  other  cereals,  vegetables,  and  fruits  of 
the  earth. 

Colonel  Forney.     How  about  the  cattle  ? 

That  is  too  larg  a  subject  for  me  to  talk  about.  It  has  been  but  a  few  days 
since  I  was  in  St.  Louis.  The  first  ba- rel  of  new  flour  had  just  been  shipped 
there  from  Georgia.  It  sold  for  two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  !  And  why  ? 
Because  it  was  unexampled  at  this  season  of  the  year.  Now,  suppose  we  had 
our  connections  with  St.  Louis,  how  many  barrels  could  we  have  sent  there  long 
before  that  barrel  arrived  from  Georgia  ? 

While  speaking  of  breadstuffs  and  cotton  my  friend,  Colonel  Forney,  asked 
me  to  say  something  about  cattle.  We  annually  send  hundreds  of  thousands 
to  the  North,  across  the  country,  and  when  the  road  is  completed  they  will 
arrive  there  in  a  far  better  condition  than  at  present ;  they  are  now  driven  a 
great  distance  before  being  shipped.  What  a  country  is  this  ?  The  mind  does 
not  exist  that  can  conceive  of  the  grand  future  that  awaits  the  people  of  Texas, 
if 'they  go  to  work  to  develop  its  resources  and  labor  to  make  it  what  it  deserves. 
It  is  not  only  the  greatest  in  extent  of  territory,  but  the  Empire  State  of  the 
Union  in  resources  and  in  production. 

Its  mineral  resources  are  undeveloped,  but  I  feel  certain  that  it  possesses  coal 
and  iron  in  abundance,  and  other  precious  minerals.  In  1850  myself  and  some 
other  gentlemen  started  out  in  search  of  coal.  I  thought  then  that  this  road 
would  be  located  down  towards  Galveston.  We  knew  that  coal  from  Pennsyl- 
vania was  brought  by  mighty  ships  to  New  Orleans,  and  had  to  be  transported 
around  the  waters  of  the  Gulf.  I  felt  that  if  there  was  coal  in  Texas,  such  as 
I  had  reason  to  believe  there  was  upon  the  Brazos,  its  development  would  unfold 
millions  of  wealth ;  and  when  I  look  at  the  hills  of  Pennsylvania  and  see  work- 
ingmen  delving  into  them  and  bringing  forth  immense  masses  of  coal,  I  feel 
that  it  needs  but  this  Pacific  Railroad  to  develop  it  in  our  own  region.  We 
found  specimens  of  coal  on  our  expedition,  and  I  know  that  it  abounds  some- 
where in  the  region  I  have  referred  to,  in  large  quantities.  I  think  somewhere 
in  that  section,  also,  is  the  great  copper  region  laid  down  on  the  map  of  the  treaty 
made  by  Mr.  Adams  with  the  Spaniards  in  regard  to  New  Mexico. 

We  brought  with  us  specimens  of  copper  ore  from  one  of  our  expeditions, 
and  sent  it  to  New  York  and  Baltimore.  We  dug  down  some  ten  or  twelve 
feet,  and  secured  some  1,600  pounds  of  ore.  We  drove  a  considerable  distance 
from  the  interior  of  the  State,  then  carried  it  from  Weatherford  to  Bryan, 
nearly  three  hundred  miles.  It  was  sent  to  New  York,  from  there  to  Balti- 
more, was  carefully  analyzed  by  Mr.  Swinson  Rand,  and  notwithstanding  the 
expenses  of  transportation,  it  yielded  a  profit  of  one  hundred  and  twenty-five 
dollars.  It  also  abounds  in  Palo  Pinto  county.  It  is  near  the  line  of  the  road. 
Of  the  presence  of  silver  and  copper  there  can  be  no  question.  Traditions 
among  the  Indians,  and  late  explorations  of  the  mountains  of  New  Mexico 
and  along  the  Rio  Grande,  show  that  that  is  one  of  the  richest  silver  rtgioas 
on  this  continent.  The  development  of  these  wonderful  resources  of  wealth, 
which  will  contribute  not  only  to  the  greatness  of  Texas,  but  to  the  greatness 
of  our  common  country,  depends  upon  the  completion  of  the  enterprise  which 
has  brought  us  together  to-night. 

The  subject  is  too  grand  for  one  mind  to  contemplate.  It  is  one  that  requires 
time  and  thought  for  preparation  and  condensation.  There  is  too  much  to  be 


71 

said  for  one  address,  and  I  can  only  to-night  refer  to  our  capabilities  in  general 
terms.     Let  us  make  up  our  minds  to  extend  to  emigrants  from  all  sections, 
whether  from  the  1'nitud   States  or  from  across  the  waters,  a  cordial  greeting 
and  a  (Jod  speed  in  their  undertakings,  and  by  their  aid  we  can  develop  the 
r    ivM.urees   of  our    Umpire  State.      When  I  was  in  Philadelphia  I  went 
with  Colonel  Forney  to  the  depot  of  the  Pennsylvania  Central,  and  as  I  rolled 
aluii^  through  the  mountains  and  valleys  of  the  old  Keystone,  and  saw  the  peo- 
ple at  work  on  many  of  their  sterile  hills,  I  thought  of  the  grand  future  that 
awaited  my  own  loved  and  beautiful  Texas  if  one-tenth  the  amount  of  energy 
displayed    in   its  development.      I   have   been  greatly  impressed  with  his 
tn  the  noble  efforts  of  Jud^e  Douglas  in  reserving  liberal  donations 
of  public  lands  fur  the  Illinois  Central  by  means  of  which  the  waters  of  Lake 
.Michigan,  tin-  Ohio,  and  the  3Ik-i  — i|.[>i   have  been  connected  together  by  one 
•  •..iiini.. n  ehain,  and   Illinois  made  one  of  the  greatest   States  in   the  Union. 

rioroiiirhly  has  his  i  n  realized  in  that  State  ! 

They  ha\  in. ads  there  than  we  have  stage  routes  in  Texas,  and  yet 

our  want-  an-   far  greater  i  1  in  addition  to  their  railroads  they 

the  Father  of  Waters  on  the  one  side,  the  Illinois  river  down  from  Lake 
.MiehiiMii  on  the  north,  the  W  abash  on  the  other  side,  and  the  blue  waters  of 
the  Ohio  on  the  other — the  beM  ition  of  almost  any  State  of  the 

I  Hion.       M.I\V   -trangely  have  the  bounties  of  Providence   been  distributed. 
II-  re  we  are  with  all  our  wonderful  resources  and  unexampled  productions,  and 

within   <»ur  borders.     That  being  the  case,  I  ask 

when  we  shall  hail  the  comple- 

\as  and    1  V,  ,,  Wl-  eannot  eonreive  what  it  will   do 

I  '"\  a>.     \\  i  compare  o  w  with  those  of  Illinois,  our  scarcity 

of  facilities  f'  md  the  benefits  we  will  derive  from 

the  e .  >n>truetion  ol  '-itie,  y.>u  can  form  some  idea  of  the  bril- 

liant flit  un«  that  a\vait> 

1.  t  10  our  borders  the  emigrants  of  all  civilized  lands  to  aid  in  the 

.pnient  of  the  internal  resources  of  Texas,  and  the  picture  will  be  too 

:  thf  mind  of  man  to  contoinplat'-.      1  tru-t  we  shall  all  live  to  see  the 

railroad  completed  at  the  end  of  five  year-,  "r  that  the  two  sides  of  our  conti- 

n.-nt  ma;.  1  by  iron  bands,  and  to  this  end  it  becomes  the  duty  of  every 

citi/.eii  to  lend  his  best  energies;  so  1  bid  you  good  night.     [Applause.] 


W 


ORTH. 


ANOTHER    MEETING     IN     Tin:     IN  F    THE    TEXAS    AND    PACIFIC    RAIL- 

\\  n  —  nn     t  .N.  ni  KA'.KMK.vr    INTENDED  TO  TUB  GRAND  ENTERPRISE 

BY   THE   PEOPLE   OF   TEXAS. 

The  party  left  Dallas  at  seven  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  Thursday,  and  after  a 
delightful  ride  across  the  prairie  reached  Fort  Worth,  forty  miles  distant,  at  five 
oYluck  in  the  afternoon.  They  were  called  upon  by  a  number  of  the  principal 
citizens,  all  of  whom  were  intensely  interested  in  the  construction  of  the  Texas 
and  Pacific  Railway.  In  the  evening  a  meeting  numerously  attended  was  held 
in  the  court-house.  Colonel  Nathaniel  Terry  was  called  to  the  chair,  and  said  : 
Fellow-citizens,  allow  me  to  introduce  to  your  acquaintance  Col.  Thomas  A. 


73 

Scott,  a  gentleman  of  whom  you  have  frequently  heard,  but  perhaps  never 
before  have  had  the  pleasure  of  seeing.  He  will  make  a  brief  speech  in  regard 
to  the  Texas  and  Pacific  Railway. 

Colonel  Scotu  was  received  with  great  applause  and  spoke  as  follows : 

SPEECH   OP   COLONEL   THOMAS  A.    SCOTT. 

i  r.K.MKN  :  I  am  here  to-night  on  business  connected  with  the  construc- 
tion of  the  Texas  and  Pacific  Railway  as  its  president.  The  question  has  been 
asked  of  me  more  than  a  thousand  times,  whether  the  road  will  ever  be  built 
or  not. 

I   have  said   to  a  great  many  people,  and  I  will  say  again  to  you  to-night, 
ur  it  to  be  built  speedily  and  well.     I  may  say 

that  within  the  next  sixty  days  or  ninety  days  certainly  wo  shall  commence  the 
;  >n  «.f  tli is  line,  and  we  expect  to  continue  it  until  we  reach  the  termi- 
mi-  ->n  the  Pacific.     I  may  say  that  within  two  years  from  this  date  I  hope  we 
i  have  both  our  lines  concentrated  and  connected  at  this  point  as  required 
•he  laws  of  Texas.     In  order  to  carry  out  this  work,  we  shall  need  the  aid 
and  co-operation  of  all  the  people  alon^  the  line,  and,  so  far  as  necessary,  of  the 
people  of  Texas  generally,  because  I  believe  it  is  a  work  of  great  interest  to  all 
»t  them.     So  far  as  we  have  met  the  people  of  Texas,  they  have  given  us  every 
encouragement     Wo  have  since  our  arrival  been  in  company  with  several  of 
.  inspected  several  >  with  a  view  to  the  erection  of  a 

etc. 

proposition  m-i  ttle  modification,  but  they  have  given  me  as- 

surance that  the  oil  the  town  will  take  up  the  subject  at  once  and  give 

us  the  ground  we  need,  three  hundred  and  twenty  acres,  in  a  locality  that  will 
answer  our  purpose.  For  this  I  desire  to  thank  the  committee  and  the  people 
of  Fort  Worth.  In  connection  with  our  work,  our  interests  may  require  us 
to  establish  shops  at  this  point,  and  in  regard  to  that  matter  I  would  like  to 
submit  to  th'-  ip  that  question,  and  would  ask 

them  for  a  donation  of  one  hundred  thousand  dollars  worth  of  bonds,  the  pro- 
H  of  which  shall  be  devoted  entirely  to  the  objects  above  stated — that  is,  to 
f  a  depot  and  shops  and  to  constructing  depots  on  the  lines  east 
and  west  rnn  ie  county  line,  and  also,  north  or  east  on  the  Trans-conti- 

nental— to  the  erection  of  shops,  depots,  and  other  facilities  within  the  limits 
of  your  own  town.  If  that  can  be  done,  and  you  can  act  promptly  on  the 
matter.  I  think  we  can  say  that  the  work  will  be  very  valuable  to  your  town  and 
productive  of  great  results  to  all  your  interests  here.  I  should  therefore  like 
very  much  if  your  people  would  take  up  the  subject  at  an  early  day.  If  you 
decide  favorably  it  will  un«|  !y  be  of  great  advantage  to  you.  General 

Dodge,  chief  engineer,  is  n-  us,  making  arrangements  for  the  purpose 

of  commencing  work,  and  within  ninety  days  you  will  hear  from  us  in  practical 
shape.  [Applause.] 

The   chairman   then    introduced   Mr.  J.   W.    Throckmorton,    although    he 
scarcely  considered  it  necessary,  as  ho  was  well  known  to  the  people  of  Texas. 

SPEECH   Or    HON.  J.  W.  THROCKMORTON. 

MY  FRIENDS:  It  has  not  been  my  fortune  to  meet  with  you  since  the  late 
unpleasantness,  but,  as  Colonel  Terry  intimates,  I  guess  the  most  of  you  are 
acquainted  with  me,  and  I  will  not  need  much  of  an  introduction.     I  feel,  my 
10 


74 

fellow- citizens  of  Fort  "Worth  and  of  Tarrant  county,  that  if  there  is  any 
locality  for  which  I  could  exchange  my  old  county  of  Collin,  it  would  be  for 
yours,  and  I  feel  that  if  there  is  any  town  I  could  exchange  for  McKinney,  it 
is  Fort  Worth.  I  know  many  of  the  old  settlers  of  Fort  Worth  ;  some  of  them 
I  knew  in  boyhood,  for  at  an  early  period  in  my  life  I  was  thrown  a  good  deal 
into  this  section  of  the  country.  I  remember  well,  as  I  know  the  citizens  of 
this  county  will  remember,  how  gladly  we  would  greet  the  strangers  who  came 
among  us  from  the  older  sections  of  the  Union. 

I  feel,  as  I  have  assured  these  gentlemen,  that  if  they  could  take  time  to  go 
still  further  West  and  see  the  broad,  rolling  plains,  and  the  waters  of  the  Colo- 
rado, they  would  meet  with  the  same  old-fashioned,  hearty  welcome  extended 
to  us,  and  that  we  iised  to  extend  in  the  olden  times  to  those  who  came  to  try 
their  fortunes  with  us.  I  feel  as  I  approach  the  frontier  settlement  that  there 
is  that  same  feeling  left  in  the  hearts  of  our  people.  [Applause.] 

I  came  before  you  to-night  to  talk  to  you  in  regard  to  a  great  project — a  pro- 
ject which  has  earnestly  engaged  the  mind,  the  genius,  and  the  capacity  of  the 
greatest  men  in  the  land. 

It  is  true,  my  fellow-citizens,  that,  although  other  great  routes  of  internal 
improvement  have  been  constructed  in  the  sections  far  north  of  us,  connecting 
with  iron  ties  the  remotest  civilizations,  there  are  difficulties,  my  friends,  sur- 
rounding the  project  in  connection  with  the  one  that  you  have  to-night  to  con- 
sider that  were  not  encountered  by  those  who  undertook  similar  enterprises. 
What  are  the  difficulties  ?  The  Federal  Government  extended  bounties  to 
them,  not  only  in  the  shape  of  lands,  but  from  the  National  Treasury.  Its 
great  and  unimpaired  credit  was  lavishly  bestowed.  So  far  as  this  great  thor- 
oughfare, connecting  the  Southern  States  with  the  Eastern,  Middle,  and  North- 
ern States,  was  concerned,  and  which  binds  together  the  people  from  the 
Atlantic  to  the  Pacific — and  yet  to  the  proposed  route  across  the  fertile  plains 
of  Texas,  and  through  Arizona  to  the  Pacific  coast,  the  Government  has  not 
seen  fit  to  extend  to  this  project  more  than  the  bounty  of  its  public  domain — 
through  the  Territories  forty  sections  to  the  mile,  and  in  the  State  of  Califor- 
nia twenty. 

The  Government  could  not  control  the  State  of  Texas,  but  Texas  in  her  own 
munificence  has  declared  emphatically  in  favor  of  this  great  project,  and  is  de- 
termined that  it  shall  be  completed  to  the  Pacific,  even  though  the  power  of 
the  Federal  Government  was  not  given  to  the  work.  [Applause.]  I  feel  that 
no  greater  object  ever  engaged  the  attention  of  statesmen  than  that  of  carrying 
through  this  great  work  of  international  communication.  I  feel  proud  that  I 
have  been  able  to  contribute  my  humble  mite  to  bring  up  to  this  period  of 
time  the  work  thus  far ;  and  the  proudest  moment  of  my  life  is  that  in  which 
Col.  Scott  assured  us  that  the  good  work  is  at  last  to  be  commenced  in  real 
and  sincere  earnestness,  and  that  in  two  years  the  iron-horse  will  be  heard 
snorting  his  way  across  the  plains  and  concentrating  these  two  great  roads  in 
your  good  old  town,  then  connecting  from  Western  plains  to  the  Rio  Grande, 
and  thence  to  the  Pacific.  And  from  what  I  know  of  the  reputation  sustained 
by  the  gentleman,  I  feel  that  his  assurance  is  given  faithfully,  to  be  relied  upon, 
and  that  the  work  will  be  completed  as  he  told  us  it  should  be  done.  [Cheers.] 

I  told  you  that  great  works  of  internal  improvement  in  the  northern  and 
middle  sections  had  been  sustained  and  carried  through  by  the  credit  of  the 
Government.  It  has  been  said  by  the  State  of  Texas  that  they  have  given  our 
lands,  but  should  the  people  amend  the  constitution  then  the  public  domain 
(and  here  permit  me  to  say  that  is  a  question  we  should  not  lose  sight  of) — 
that  upon  the  coming  election  you  are  to  say  whether  the  Legislature  should 


75 

be  clothed  with  the  power  to  pay  off  the  subsidies  granted  to  the  railway  corn- 
panics. 

Your  "Western  lands  are  unsettled,  and  may  remain  the  home  of  the  savages 
who  have  warred  upon  our  country.  The  construction  of  this  line  will  be  the 

•test  possible  blessing  for  our  people,  and  our  constitution  should  be  so 
amended  that  the  obligation  entered  upon  in  regard  to  railroad  subsidies  might 
be  diseharp-d  in  bonds  instead  of  money.  It  is  not  necessary  for  me  to 
elaborate  the  r« •  isons  further  than  to  say  that  if  the  bonds  are  granted  the 
people  must  insist  upon  their  redemption  at  the  end.  of  thirty  years,  but  if  lands 

to  bo  !<>eaud  in  place  of  the  bonds,  you  get  rid  of  that  amount  of  taxes,  and 
at  the  same  time  Heeure  facilities  to  pour  into  our  State  large  numbers  of  emi- 

its  who  will  settle  upon  all  these  lands,  and  reduced  taxation  will  follow  in 

W,  with  the  increase  of  our  population,  and  that  will  more  than  make 

up  for  the  bounty  of  the  State  government  to  this  great  enterprise.  [Applause.] 

As  you  will  observe,  gentlemen,  Col.  Scott  does  not  deal  much  in  words,  but 

his  hi>ti.ry  and  his  reputation  is  that  of  a  man  of  action.     We  have  spent  many 

anxious  hours  of  thought  on   this  absorbing  question,  and  I  hail  his  coming 

among  us  and  the  language  of  his  speech  as  an  evidence  of  his  intention  to 

co-operate  heartily  in  the  great  work  before  us.     I  believe  a  thousand  times 

more  in  action  than  words.     In  a  few  trite  aud  pointed  sentences  he  clearly 

states  what  h«  >['  this  people,  and  what  he  expects  to  do  in  return.     I 

have  not  the  capacity  of  a  MI  _:  in  a  few  short,  pithy  sentences  the  main 

1  that  you  are  placed  to-day  in  the  most  enviable  situation  of  any 

county  in  this  great  State. 

The  erection  of  the  machine-shops  and  depots  that  will  be  necessary  for  the 
reception  and  transportation  of  supplies  will  have  a  magical  effect  upon  the 
growth  of  your  m  city,  set  upon  a  hill,  and  almost  upon  a  mountain. 

1  r  these  main  shops  were  erected  in  }"ur  midst,  the  sound  of  the  hammer,  the 
anvil,  and  the  saw,  and  the  t'  the  steam  engine  will  come  thundering 

over  your  plains,  and   thn-UL'h  your  valleys.     Suppose  you  had  a  thousand 
operators  here,  what  would  >rth  be  ten  years  from  this  time  ?     The 

ination  ean  hardly  depict  it.  You  have  the  soil  for  producing  cotton,  corn, 
wheat,  oats,  Irish  potatoes,  and  everything  necessary  for  the  consumption  of 
mankind.  You  can  rear  upon  your  plains  boundless  quantities  of  meats  to  sup- 
ply the  hungry  and  needy  throughout  the  breadth  of  the  country,  and  enough 
to  send  across  the  waters  to  feed  the  people  there.  To  bring  these  things  more 
readily  to  market  you  must  have  commercial  connections. 

You  want  population,  you  want  skilled  mechanics,  you  want  farmers  and 
artisans  of  every  class,  and  you  want  miners  to  bring  forth  from  the  bowels  of 
the  earth  the  treasures  that  are  hidden  there.  If  you  have  the  machine  shops 
at  this  point,  in  a  few  years  your  population  may  number  ten  thousand.  Now, 
I  ask  if  this  is  a  fanciful  picture  if  See  the  countless  thousands  of  acres  by 
which  you  are  surrounded.  How  productive  and  how  useful  they  could  be 
made  to  contribute  to  the  wants  and  necessities  of  the  country.  Why  are  they 
useless  ?  Because  we  have  not  the  labor  to  make  this  section  produce  accord- 
ing to  its  capacity.  We  have  not  the  people.  They  go  to  the  crowded  portions 
of  our  Union ;  and  in  the  Eastern:  States,  look  at  their  poor  land,  and  barren 
hills,  where  they  earn  their  bread  by  the  toil  and  sweat  of  the  yeomanry  and 
their  improved  machinery,  and  they  have  continually  to  manure  their  lands  in 
order  to  obtain  a  reasonable  crop.  Do  that  which  Colonel  Scott  has  indicated 
to  you  as  his  desire,  and  the  trade  from  the  Red  river,  Shreveport,  the  coal 
regions,  and  the  Palo  Pinto  will  concentrate  here,  and  diverge  from  this  point 
to  the  waters  of  the  Gulf,  pour  into  Gaiveston.  and  Houston,  go  to  Fulton,  con- 


76 

nect  with  Memphis  and  Cairo,  along  the  Mississippi  to  New  Orleans,  to  Vicks- 
burg,  Cairo,  and  all  the  great  arteries  that  permeate  the  far-distant  regions  of 
the  whole  country.  [Applause.] 

Have  you  the  capacity  and  can  you  meet  the  proposition  Colonel  Scott  has 
presented  for  your  consideration  ?  It  is  to  that  point  I  desire  to  invite  your 
attention.  He  asked  you  for  one  hundred  thousand  dollars  in  the  way  of 
bonds.  "What  is  the  taxable  property  upon  the  assessment  lists  of  the  county  ? 
I  presume  it  is  something  less  than  two  millions  of  dollars.  Suppose  it  is  one 
million  five  hundred  thousand  dollars.  I  am  quite  sure  it  is  more  than  that. 
The  statutes  of  your  Legislature  have  permitted  the  people  of  Texas  of  any  in- 
corporated town  to  donate  sums  not  to  exceed  ten  per  cent,  of  the  fcaxable  value 
of  the  property  of  that  county.  You  have  perhaps  twenty-four  hundred  voters, 
and  the  tax  which  he  asks  you  will  have  to  distribute  among  them.  It  would 
not  be  five  dollars  apiece — it  would  be  four  dollars  apiece  if  it  were  distributed 
pro  rata,  but  as  a  matter  of  course  this  would  have  to  be  upon  the  general 
value  of  the  property  of  the  county.  Five  per  cent,  upon  one  million  would 
make  fifty  thousand  dollars.  I  know  you  are  alarmed  about  the  taxes  you  have 
been  called  upon  by  the  authorities  of  the  State  to  contribute  for  the  purpose 
of  schools — during  the  past  year  I  believe  one  dollar  and  fifty  cents  upon 
every  hundred  dollars'  worth  of  property — but  we  understand  that  that  law  is 
not  to  be  enforced  during  the  coming  year,  and  I  trust  that,  long  before  the 
period  would  arrive  at  which  these  bonds  would  issue,  there  would  be  a  class 
of  men  in  your  Legislature  that  would  take  hold  of  this  question,  and  bring 
it  back  somewhat  nearer  to  the  old  standard  that  it  was  before  the  war.  If 
so  the  question  of  taxation  would  be  so  slight  that  it  would  be  no  burden 
at  all. 

If  you  have  a  million  five  hundred  thousand  of  taxable  property,  the  very 
moment  the  building  of  the  railway  becomes  a  fixed  certainty  and  it  is  known 
that  it  will  be  completed  to  this  point  within  the  time  prescribed  by  law,  you 
will  see  that  if  our  taxable  property  will  be  two  millions,  in  another  year  it  will 
be  three  millions,  and  by  the  time  the  road  is  finished,  instead  of  one  million 
five  hundred  thousand,  you  will  have  five  millions  of  taxable  property  in  the 
county  of  Tarrant,  and,  as  your  population  increases,  doubles  and  trebles,  the 
burdens  of  taxation  are  lessened  in  proportion.  Then  your  taxes  will  be  so 
light  as  not  to  be  felt  by  a  single  citizen.  The  opportunity  is  presented  of  clos- 
ing out  this  contract  before  Colonel  Scott  leaves  here  to-morrow  morning  and 
returns  to  New  York  and  presents  his  report  to  the  executive  committee,  there 
to  be  called  together.  And  it  will  be  determined  then  and  there  where  these 
machine  shops  shall  be  constructed.  They  must  fix  these  things  up  at  once, 
and,  let  me  say  to  you,  that  you  should  act  promptly.  I  feel  that  I  need  not 
show  you  what  the  future  of  Fort  Worth  would  be  and  the  advantages  that 
would  follow  to  this  entire  section  by  securing  the  principal  shops  at  this  point. 
These  are  self-evident  facts  that  must  strike  the  attention  of  every  thinking 
mind.  I  said  this  was  one  of  the  grandest  works  that  ever  engaged  the  atten- 
tion of  capitalists.  There  are  those  in  the  Northern  States  who  believe  that 
we  are  still  in  a  rebellious  condition.  They  are  greatly  mistaken.  We  have 
no  desire  to  engage  in  another  bloody  struggle,  and  our  Northern  countrymen 
now  seem  determined  to  forward  this  great  work.  I  believe  that  no  policy  of 
statesmanship  could  do  so  much  towards  binding  together  the  people  of  all  sec- 
tions in  perfect  harmony.  It  will  make  each  section  mutually  dependent  upon 
the  other  and  I  believe  no  more  effective  reconstruction  policy  could  be  adopted. 
We  have  it  in  our  power  to  help  in  this  great  work,  and  we  will  assure  our 
Northern  brethren,  when  it  is  constructed,  that  there  is  no  disloyalty  to  the 


7T 

General  Government  in  the  hearts  of  the  people  of  Texas,  but  that  we  feel 
grateful  to  the  National  Congress  for  the  aid  extended  to  us. 

However  mighty  the  genius,  no  single  mind  can  carry  the  work  through  to  a 
successful  completion.  There  must  be  harmonious  action.  It  is  true  that 
Northern  capital  believes  this  will  be  a  good  investment.  It  is  true  that  the 
great  commercial  interests  of  our  country  will  be  benefited.  It  is  true  that 
engineers  have  come  to  the  conclusion  that  they  cannot  rely  upon  the  Northern 
routes,  and  that  the  climate  and  broad  plains  are  greatly  in  our  favor.  Nature 

Viessi'd  us  with  peculiar  facilities  for  the  construction  of  a  railroad  to  the 
Pacific.  Capital  and  commerce  see  and  feel  it.  But  however  great  the  neces- 
sity of  such  a  thoroughfare,  and  however  anxious  Colonel  Scott  may  be  to  see 
it  consummated  within  the  next  four  years,  he  will  need  the  active  co-operation 
of  our  citizens.  It  has  been  thought  that  if  Colonel  Scott  would  place  himself 
at  the  head  of  any  great  enterprise,  that  would  be  sufficient.  I  admire  his 

us  and  honor  the  intoll  tn  concentrate  and  control  the  energy  and 

iudu-try  of  the  people,  and  bring  to  a  successful  conclusion  such  a  mighty 
project  as  that  of  connecting  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  by  bands  of  iron,  and  it 

o  of  the  proudest  reflections  of  my  life  that  my  name  has  been  connected 
with  this  road  from  the  incipiency  of  its  organization.  I  trust  we  shall  all  live 
to  see  it  finished,  and  that  we  shall  have  in  Northern  Texas  such  a  population 
as  does  not  exist  in  any  State  in  this  Union,  except  New  England.  You  have 

•  I  his  proposition,  and  I  tru«*t  )-»u  will  consider  it  favorably  and  promptly. 
Welcome  emigrants  from  whatever  quarter  of  the  world  with  outstretched  arms. 
Do  not  hold  your  property  at  too  high  prices.  Give  them  an  opportunity  to 
invest  and  to  help  develop  this  country,  and  the  picture  of  prosperity  and  great- 
ness I  have  attempted  to  portray  to-night  will  bo  indeed  realized.  I  thank  you, 
my  fellow-citizens,  for  the  kindness  with  which  you  have  listened  to  me. 

The  chairman  then  introduced  Colonel  J.  W.  Forney,  one  of  the  directors  of 
the  Texas  and  Pacific  Railway. 

SPEECH   OF  COLONEL   J.   W.   FORNEY. 

I  wish,  my  friends,  the  thri  rds  of  Governor  Throckmorton,  which 

have  just  fallen  from  his  lip-,  could  have  been  heard  in  Independence  Hall,  in 
Philadelphia.  I  wi&h  the  people  of  that  great  city  could  have  listened  to  his 
patriotic  exhortation,  and  then  you  would  have  had  an  opportunity  of  hearing 
a  characteristic  prompt  ami  response.  Much  as  I  had  heard  of 

Governor  Throckmorton,  and  long  and  earnestly  as  I  have  admired  him,  I  have 
never  more  honored  him  than  to-night.  Not  simply  for  the  practical  sugges- 
tions he  has  made  affecting  your  home  interests,  but  for  the  fact  that  he  has 
invoked  those  better  feelings  which  nm-t  at  last  consolidate  us  and  weld  us  into 
one  commoa  and  victorious  brotherhood — victorious,  if  I  may  be  permitted  to 
say  so,  not  in  war,  but  victorious  in  the  practical  arts  of  peace — victorious  in 
those  higher  virtues,  those  more  enduring  testimonials  and  elements  of  human 
character.  One  portion  of  the  Governor's  remarks  attracted  my  attention  to 
the  Congressional  history  of  the  great  work  which  is  now  to  be  initiated  under 
such  favorable  circumstances.  Had  the  Texas  and  Pacific  Company  not  been 
itsrlf  internally  disturbed — had  it  not  been  seeking  for  organization  through 
various  conflicts  and  combinations — had  Colonel  Scott  been  the  first  president  of 
the  movement — the  liberal  boupty  of  Congress,  awarded  first  to  the  Union  Pacific, 
and  afterwards  so  liberally  to  the  Northern  Pacific,  would  have  been  extended 
to  this  great  Southern  line.  When  he  was  elected  president  he  had  to  bear  the 
opprobrium  and  suspicion  attached  to  other  organizations,  and  it  was  believed 


78 

that  this  largesse  could  not  be  repeated  even  in  regard  to  so  worthy  and  con- 
summate an  undertaking  as  that  in  which  you  are  directly  concerned. 

For  bear  in  mind  that  the  first  great  idea  enunciated  by  Jefferson  Davis  when 
he  reported  several  surveys  made  under  his  direction  to  Congress  in  1855  was 
the  Texas  and  Pacific  road.  All  the  others  were  abandoned,  first  on  account  of 
the  climate  and  severe  winter,  and  secondly,  because  at  that  period  of  time  the 
great  treasures  of  the  Pacific  had  scarcely  been  utilized,  or  perhaps  had  just 
begun  to  be  known  to  civilized  man.  And  the  statesmen  of  that  day  contem- 
plated the  Texas  and  Pacific  as  the  only  feasible  route.  Had,  however,  Colonel 
Scott  been  the  first  president,  bringing  to  Congress  his  fresh  credit  and  his  high 
name,  you  would  not  have  been  the  last  to  receive  the  public  lands  of  the  Gov- 
ernment, but  largely  the -public  treasure  in  the  shape  of  credit;  and  when  finally 
every  attempt  to  procure  subsidies  for  other  lines  was  rejected  or  postponed,  or 
so  restricted  as  to  render  them  useless,  this  work  itself  was  brought  before  the 
National  Legislature,  you  will  recollect  the  enthusiastic  unanimity  with  which 
the  measure  was  passed.  There  were  some  obstacles  around  it,  but  when  Colonel 
Scott  appeared  the  legislation  was  far  more  satisfactory  under  the  circumstances 
than  could  have  been  expected.  He  is  now  here  to  make  good  his  promises  and 
reciprocate  the  generosity  of  his  Government.  I  remember  many  years  ago 
reading  a  masterly  speech  of  Mr.  Benton  of  Missouri,  when  he  predicted  the 
fruition  of  his  own  dreams  in  regard  to  the  Pacific  slope  and  the  commerce  of 
the  future,  and  with  all  his  gorgeous  imagery  drew  a  picture  which  looked  like 
the  picture  of  a  visionary,  but  we  are  now  in  the.  forefront  of  a  future  which 
challenges  the  admiration  of  the  civilized  world.  This  future  teaches  a  lesson 
because  it  is  not  only  a  moral,  but  a  political  question. 

So  far  as  it  affects  the  whole  country,  it  settles  forever  the  question  of  the 
immutability  and  perpetuity  of  the  American  Government.  It  settles  it  because 
the  dissatisfied  section  does  receive  the  encouragement,  the  bounty,  and  the 
affection  of  the  National  Government.  It  settles  it  also  in  the  fact  that  the 
great  Northern  populace  are  waiting  to  come  to  you,  are  waiting  to  mingle  with 
you,  and  in  my  connection  with  the  public  press  I  shall  now  have  an  opportu- 
nity to  4°  something  more  than  to  advertise  this  great  work — than  to  spread 
before  the  people,  whom  I  most  humbly  represent,  the  pecuniary  advantages  of 
it;  to  make  a  running  history  of  this,  to  me,  most  gratifying  and  compensating 
trip  through  your  great  Empire  State.  When  I  look  abroad  upon  what  I  have 
seen  and  reflect  what  I  shall  be  called  upon  to  write,  I  know  how  the  hearts  of 
our  people  will  throb  at  the  plain,  frank  story  I  shall  have  to  tell.  They  will 
wonder  at  Colonel  Scott's  visit  to  your  region  at  this  period  of  the  year.  They 
will  wonder  at  his  leaving  his  important  duties  to  come  among  you,  and  they 
will  be  attracted  to  a  study  of  this  question  more  effectually  because  he  has 
taken  the  initiative  in  a  manner  most  satisfactory  and  decisive.  I  am  in  no 
condition  to  speak  to  you  at  length  upon  this  thing.  We  have  now  traversed 
some  three  thousand  miles  to  meet  you.  To-morrow  we  turn  our  steps  home- 
ward. We  carry  with  us  the  most  grateful  recollection.  Every  step  has  been 
marked  by  kindness,  courtesy,  and  hospitality  on  the  part  of  your  people,  and 
your  prompt  and  manly  response  to  the  equally  prompt  and  manly  appeals  of 
our  president.  Having  said  thus  much,  my  friends,  I  respectfully  bid  you 
good  night. 


79 


NEW  PRLEANS. 


LARGE  RAILROAD  MEETIN         UK  CHAMBER  OF  THE  BOARD  OP  TRADE 
IX  NEW  ORLEANS,  JULY  4,  1872  —  THE  TRADE  THAT  THE  TEXAS  AND 

U".\l>    WILL 


A  meeting  was  held  at  the  Board  of  Trade  on  Thursday,  the  Fourth  of  July, 
in  the  city  of  New  Orleans,  for  the  purpose  of  welcoming  Col.  Thomas  A.  Scott 
and  his  party.  The  meetin_  -oly  attended,  and  was  organized  at  twelve 

o'clock  by  Iv  II.  Summers,  Esq.,  president  of  the  Cotton  Exchange,  who  said: 

\\V  have  here  assembled  in  this  hull  the  representatives  of  the  greatest  com- 

mercial   interests    in   this  portion  of  the  country,  to  welcome  to  our  midst  the 

.rest  representative  living  of  the  railmad  interest.     I  am  happy  to  have  the 

pleasure  of  intro.ln.-in/  r..  you  Col.  Thomas    V.  Scott,  who  will  make  known  to 

you   his  view>   in  re-n-,1    to   nilro.id    ma! 

\    SCOTT. 

I  am  here  to-day,  gentlemen,  by  invitation  of  your  committee,  not  to  make  a 
speech,  hut  t"  have  a  little  t'riemlK  talk  on  the  subject  of  railroads  —  railroads 
that  relate  immediately  to  the  intent  --n  of  this  city  and  the  State  of  Louisiana. 
For  the  last  two  or  three  weeks,  accompanied  by  a  committee  of  the  board  of 

•tore  of  the  Texas  and  I'icinV  Kailroad,  consisting  of  Colonel  Forney,  Mr. 
Walters,  General  Dodge  (chief  engineer),  and  others,  I  have  been  making  a 
tour  Northeastern  Texan,  which  is  the  location  of  the  line  intended 

to  be  built  through  Texas,  near  the  thirty-second  parallel,  and  so  on  to  the 

tic  coast  at  San  hie-,.,  llavin.r  mule  this  visit  to  Texas,  the  first  time 
in  my  life,  never  having  heen  in  that  re-ion  of  the  world  before,  I  will  state  to 

very  briefly  the  impressions  made  upon  my  mind  in  relation  to  that  country, 
notions,  and    its  peculiar   adaptability  for   the  extension  of  railroad 
tacili' 

have  all  been  very  much  surprised  at  finding  a  country  capable  of  pro- 
ducing all  of  the  great  staple-;  to  a  degree  of  perfection  that  is  remarkable.  We 
found  then  ,  \vithin  a  circuit  of  :i  miles,  as  good  wheat,  as  good  corn, 

as  good  tobacco,  as  good  cotton,  as  good  oats,  and  as  much  to  the  acre  as  I  have 
ever  seen  stand  on  the  ground  in  any  part  of  the  world.  I  have  no  doubt  that 
the  State  of  Texas  can  produce  and  will  produce  more  of  these  great  staples  than 
are  now  being  produced  to-day  in  all  the  balance  of  the  United  States.  [  Cheers.] 
•M  ,  object  in  eiiinin^  to  this  section  was  to  look  over  the  line  of  the  Texas 
and  Pacific  Railroad  and  to  make  arrangements  for  its  construction,  and  for 
this  latter  purpose  I  find  we  can  readily  obtain  all  we  need  —  a  reasonably  strong 
population  in  numbers,  active  people,  plenty  of  timber  and  water,  and  a  good 
natural  loc  it  ion  for  the  road;  and  with  all  these  facilities,  I  will  say  that  the 
work  is  about  to  commence  within  the  next  two  weeks  from  this  time.  Con- 
tractors  will  be  placed  along  the  line  due  west,  with  a  view  to  extending  the 
road  directly  through  to  San  Diego  and  the  Pacific  ;  and  I  think  I  may  say  to 
the  people  of  New  Orleans  that  within  the  next  six  years  I  hope  to  be  able  to 
take  them  through  to  San  Diego,  and  perhaps  San  Francisco,  on  a  train  of  cars 
from  their  own  city.  [Cheer-  ] 

The  Texas  and  Pacific  Railroad  starts  from  Shreveport  on  the  one  point, 
Texarkana  on  the  other,  and  these  two  lines,  running  in  nearly  a  western 
direction,  will  connect  at  a  point  known  as  Fort  Worth,  in  Tarrant  cpunty, 


so 

Texas.  "We  started  from  Shreveport,  the  one  end  of  the  old  Southern  Pacific, 
to  the  end  of  that  road,  and  traveled  thence  by  private  conveyances  over  two 
hundred  miles  of  that  country,  every  acre  of  which  can  be  made  to  produce 
as  I  have  told  you;  and  Texas  can,  in  my  opinion,  unquestionably  be  made 
the  greatest  State  of  this  great  Union.  [Applaaee.] 

We  want  in  connection  with  this  great  enterprise  as  it  progresses — and 
as  it  now  undoubtedly  will — commercial  prosperity.  We  want  outlets  to  New 
Orleans,  to  Yicksburg,  to  Memphis,  to  St.  Louis,  and  to  any  other  point  that 
will  build  a  road  to  Shreveport,  Texarkar,a,  Jefferson,  Marshall,  or  the  vicinity 
of  either,  or  to  any  other  point  that  will  intersect  with  us.  It  strikes  me  that 
your  people  are  particularly  interested  in  having  a  connection  with  these  roads 
now,  as  it  would  benefit  you  greatly.  A  connection  with  that  great  thorough- 
fare, which  will  have  five  hundred  miles  completed  within  the  next  two  years, 
would  be  especially  desirable;  and  it  is  of  the  utmost  importance  to  your  com- 
mercial interests. 

You  need  a  more  reliable  connection  with  Texas  than  by  the  Red  river  and 
the  Mississippi,  and  I  think  it  is  the  duty  of  the  people  of  New  Orleans  to  take 
up  at  once  the  subject  of  building  a  railroad  to  Shreveport  to  connect  with  the 
Texas  and  Pacific.  If  you  construct  a  line  to  Baton  Rouge,  or  any  other 
that  brings  you  nearer  to  our  road,  you  will  control  a  large  amount  of  travel  and 
business  that  will  make  it  eminently  worthy  of  your  consideration.  It  is  not 
necessary  for  me  to  dilate  upon  what  the  Texas  and  Pacific  will  be  when  it  is 
finished.  I  believe  its  route  is  well  understood  by  the  people  of  New  Orleans. 
In  addition  to  Texas,  it  traverses  parts  of  New  Mexico  and  Arizona,  and  so  on 
to  California.  It  will  attract  to  your  city  a  large  share  of  the  vast  mineral 
wealth  of  Old  Mexico.  Its  importance  cannot  be  over-estimated,  and  all  the 
work  necessary  for  you,  in  order  to  derive  great  benefits  therefrom,  is  the  con-' 
struction  of  a  road  between  Shreveport  and  this  city.  [  Cheers.] 

After  leaving  the  line  of  the  Texas  and  Pacific  road  we  started  from  Dallas 
and  went  down,  via  the  Texas  Central,  to  Austin,  Houston,  and  Galveston ;  then 
by  steamer  to  Brashear  City  and  to  New  Orleans,  via  Louisiana  and  Texas  Rail- 
road. In  all  that  country  there  is  now  developing  a  trade  a  large  share  of  which 
you  shoul*d  divert  to  your  own  city,  and  you  can  easily  do  so  by  constructing 
two  railroad  lines — one  to  Houston  and  one  to  GJ-alveston. 

I  want  to  impress  upon  you  as  strongly  as  I  can  the  necessity  of  making 
these  roads,  and  particularly  the  road  to  Shreveport,  or  to  aid  organizations  that 
may  be  formed  for  such  purposes.  I  do  not  want  you  to  suppose  that  I  am 
particularly  anxious  to  be  concerned  with  them,  but  I  do  want  you  to  take  up 
the  subject,  and  I  do  say  that  I  believe  three  hundred  miles  of  road  can  be  con- 
structed at  an  expense  of  not  exceeding  ten  millions  of  dollars,  and  it  can  \>e 
done  with  the  aid  of  two  millions  from  your  city  and  its  great  population,  which 
will  put  you  in  direct  communication  with  all  the  facilities  of  the  road  extending 
to  the  Pacific  coast.  [Applause.] 

So  far  as  the  Texas  and  Pacific  road  is  concerned,  the  question  has  been  asked 
me  at  least  twenty  times  as  to  whether  it  was  connected  with  Eastern  lines,  and 
whether  it  would  not  tend  to  divert  trade  from  New  Orleans  and  other  Southern 
ports.  In  reply  to  which  I  state  that  it  is  not  connected  with  any  interest  or 
any  line  whatever.  It  stands  a  perfectly  independent  organization,  and  if  the 
people  of  New  Orleans  make  a  highway  to  it  they  shall  have  as  good  a  chance 
for  its  trade  as  any  other  people  upon  earth,  and  I  should  like  to  hear  from 
them  on  the  subject  at  the  earliest  moment.  We  want  New  Orleans  to  build  a 
road  to  connect  with  the  end  of  the  Texas  and  Pacific,  and  to  take  a  share  of 
that  trade.  Will  you  do  so  ?  [Applause.] 


81 

The  chairman  tthen  said  he  had  great  pleasure  in  introducing  Colonel  J.  W. 
Forney,  of  Philadelphia. 

SPEECH    OF   COL.   JOHN   W.    FORNEY. 

You  have  heard  from  Colonel   Scott,  whose  words  are  always  emphatic  and 

;md,  therefore,  anything  I  might  have  to  say  must  be  simply  an  attempt  to 

ribe  the  effect  pro  ;  n  a   Northern  man  as  he  passed  through  the 

it  empire  o  That   hind  was  so  entirely  unknown  to  us  that,  as  we 

1,  ii'.-\v  revelations  Mntly  presented.     It  is  a  curious  fact  that 

while  we  knew  <"inethiai:  «l'  Knirhnd,  in  the  North,  something  of  France  and 

my.  \\c  ku   w  virtually  nothing  of  Texas. 

\\ '••  ha-1  '•  '  T  unmanageable  difficulties,  alike  of  climate, 

of  manners,  and   of  p  e  moment  we  left  here  in  the  palace  ship, 

.1  mi  -.1,  ci.mmainl.'d   by  L"»<>d  Captain  Pegram,  until  we  sailed  away 

al.ui :  tin?  curious  a  T,  and  so  passed  over  66  miles  of  railroad, 

IV.. in  Sliivvrport  to  -iu-u  from  Long  View  to  Fort  Worth.    We 

nothing  t'  'red  information,  and  instruction,  and  dis- 

i    now,  when  it  comes  to  my  lot  to  return  home 

h  what  we  saw,  and  what  we  "  learned  and 

-  I  >h-i!iK  t'rmi  the  beginning  of  the  ta>k. 

I  have  seen  BO  having  «l  >ubted  before,  we  shall  hardly  be 

credi  ,.f  our  journey  is  laid  before  our  people. 

[  Vppl.-uisc.]     And  there  was  no;  -r'l"£  to  me,  a  quiet  student 

T  in  which  the  people   had  adjusted 
ti  of  th--  titii''*,  the  cordiality  with  which  they  accepted 

the  .»:  h  they  were  addressing  themselves  to  the 

life,  and  t  lance  of  all  the  bitterness1  of  the  past,  than 

ih.  ir  ci-orness  to  i  :aore  than  halfway — uiisMonuries,  as  we  felt  our- 

selves, from  the  pt  .  headed  by  our  young  chief,  bearing 

with  us  n  ip  ;  no  promises  but  th'>se  that  were  to  be 

fulfilled ,  no  works  but  works  of  redemption  ;  no  triumphs  but  those  of  civili- 
[  Applause.] 

H  not  only  as  ;  -t  only  as  brothers,  but  in  the  language 

and  in  the  spirit  of  that  huii. T  word,  so  loni;  t'  :md  now  to  be  restored, 

it  day  wh  anniversary  of  American  Independence, 

as  A;  in  this  marvelous  empire,  so  rich  in  all  the 

gifts  of  a  bounteous  and  bountiful  IV  \ ;  lence,  there  was  one  painful  thought 
— that  the  Crescent  City,  the  Empress  City  of  the  South,  was  literally  shut  out 
from  •  w  Orleans  was  unapproachable,  except 

tin  Gulf  or  a  tortuous  Red  river,  which,  however  con- 

we  shall  remember  always  as  the  most  dilatory  of  streams.  Therefore, 
when  r«»l.  Se«>tt  comes  to  you  to  present  a  practical  remedy  by  which  you  may 
i  easures,  not  only  for  your  own  trade,  but  that  they  may  be  re- 
turned to  you  in  generous  reciprocity,  may  I  be  permitted  to  say  that  you  ought 
to  accept  this  proposition  and  follow  this  counsel?  And,  may  I  be  permitted, 
furthermore,  to  say,  that  had  such'an  empire !  had  such  a  storehouse  of  jewels 
laid  so  near  any  great  Northern  city,  they  would  not  have  waited  as  long — not 
half  nor  quarter  as  long,  nor  one-third  as  long  as  you  have  waited — to  avail 
themselves  of  these  incalculable  riches.  [Cheers.]  I  believe  I  have  said  my 
say,  except,  gentlemen,  to  repeat  how  deeply  we  have  been  impressed  by  the 
experience  through  which  we  have  passed,  and  how  glad  we  shall  be  to  return 
to  our  homes  and  to  say,  that  here,  in  this  great  city — seen  by  myself  for  the 
11 


first  time — we  have  received  an  honest,  old-fashioned  Southern  welcome  [cheers] ; 
and  that,  however  divided  among  yourselves,  however  separated  in  these  days 
of  mazy  politics,  when  partisans  are  seeking  for  candidates,  each  man  constitu- 
ting himself  a  sort  of  Christopher  Columbus,  and  doubtful  whether  the  candidate 
he  intends  to  vote  for  is  the  right  man — torn  as  you  are  by  local  dissensions — 
disputing  as  you  are  among  yourselves — there  is  one  common  platform  upon 
which  we  can  meet,  and  that  is,  the  development  of  our  resources,  the  utiliza- 
tion of  our  wealth,  and  the  restoration  of  peace  between  the  two  sections  lately 
divided.  [Applause.] 

The  chairman  then  said  :  My  friend,  Colonel  Scott,  has  told  his  story  in  a 
few  words,  and  if  there  is  present  a  member  of  the  Committee  on  Railroads 
and  Commerce,  who  can  give  us  any  information,  we  should  like  to  hear  from  him. 

In  response  to  this 

GENERAL   BUSSEY 

spoke  as  follows  : 

MY  FRIENDS  :  I  esteem  this  a  very  high  compliment  to  be  called  upon  to 
follow  what  has  been  said  by  Colonel  Scott  and  Colonel  Forney.  You  are 
aware  that  when  it  was  announced  a  few  months  ago  that  Colonel  Scott  had 
been  elected  president  of  the  Texas  and  Pacific  Railroad,  whatever  doubts  had 
existed  in  reference  to  the  success  of  that  enterprise  were  dispelled,  and  were 
succeeded  by  a  spirit  of  joy  and  confidence. 

Colonel  Scott  has  told  us  that  he  intended  to  build  the  Southern  Pacific 
Railroad.  We  know  that  he  has  never  made  promises  that  have  not  been  ful- 
filled. He  has  told  us  that  he  would  like  us  to  build  a  railroad  from  here  to 
Shreveport,  and  that  that  road  will  cost  about  ten  millions  of  dollars.  It  seems 
like  an  immense  sum  for  a  people  to  raise  who  were  greatly  impoverished  by 
the  recent  war  and  from  the  effects  of  which  they  are  just  now  recovering;  but 
I  think  it  should  be  realized  if  possible.  There  are  valuable  franchises  almost 
sufficient  to  build  the  road  now  lying  idle  in  this  State.  They  have  been  in  the 
market  for  three  years.  Numerous  endeavors  have  unsuccessfully  been  made 
to  dispose  of  them,  and  but  eight  months  remain  before  the  charters  expire. 

What  we  want  here,  in  these  exciting  political  times,  is  to  organize  in  the 
city  of  New  Orleans  various  institutions  that  will  increase  our  facilities  for 
trade,  business,  and  commerce ;  and  the  inauguration  of  business  and  financial 
measures  on  the  proper  basis  will  be  the  best  solution  for  all  our  troubles.  I 
am  sanguine  enough  to  believe,  although  I  have  not  had  much  experience  in 
such  matters,  that  a  railroad  to  Shreveport  and  another  to  Houston  would  be 
worth  fifty  millions  of  dollars  to  the  city  of  New  Orleans  in  less  than  five  years. 
We  do  not  have  to  pay  down  ten  millions  to  secure  such  a  thoroughfare.  I 
have  seen  roads  built  in  the  North  and  Northwest  almost  entirely  without 
capital.  Lands  were  donated,  the  young  men  would  turn  out  and  grade  the 
tracks,  and  when  the  ground-work  was  once  laid  the  rolling  stock  and  capital 
could  easily  be  found  to  put  it  in  operation. 

My  friend,  General  Dodge,  chief  engineer  of  the  Texas  and  Pacific,  and  whom 
I  have  met  in  days  passed,  and  who  it  gives  me  pleasure  to  know  is  connected 
with  the  great  enterprise,  brings  to  this  work  a  practical  experience  learned  in 
a  country  where  they  have  not  a  great  deal  of  wealth,  but  an  immense  amount 
of  energy,  and  in  his  State  of  Iowa  over  two  thousand  miles  of  railroad  are  now 
in  operation,  and  there,  gentlemen,  they  have  not  one  dollar  to  bank  on  where 
you  have  ten,  and  you  see  the  result  of  their  energy  and  perseverance.  I  will 
not  detain  you  to  show  how  rapidly  our  commerce  is  increasing,  and  how  much 
more  rapidly  it  would  increase  if  we  had  a  connection,  with  the  Texas  and 


83 

Pacific-  Railroad.  This  would  bring  to  New  Orleans  an  amount  of  trade  that 
would  astonish  the  oldest  inhabitant. 

Foreign  emigration  would  arrive  at  this  point,  aud,  as  Colonel  Scott  said  last 
would  furni>h  almost  busiin-s  enough  to  sustain  the  road  to  Shreve- 
(>ort,  and  our  steam  lines  to  Hurope  might  rival  those  of  New  York.  It  is  a 
bubjeet  well  worthy  our  prompt  consideration.  We  want  to  do  something 
practical  at  once.  We  should  make  it  our  business  first  to  investigate  the 
charters  i'or  proposed  railroads  now  in  the  market.  Let  us  determine  which  is 
the  one  best  to  take  hold  of  and  then  place  ourselves  in  communication  with 
Colonel  Seott,  who,  I  believe,  .-tands  ready  to  respond  favorably  and  help  us  in 
our  enterjiii-  :i  In-  has  not  said  so.  I  have  nothing  more  to  say  in 

refer  I  am  a  new  member,  but,  so  far  as  I  am 

able,  I  am  p«-i -fectly  willing  iy  whole  length  to  accomplish  the  desired 

conii"ction  with  the  'JYxa*  and  1'acitic  road.  The  tax  upon  our  city  would  be 
a  mere  1-  when  we  ivninnl.er  that  we  would  place  ourselves  in  direct 

e  •  mmunie  iri.»H  with  all  the  outside  civilized  world,  and  would  receive  into  our 
lap  th-  country. 

I    belieye  tip  r  Orleans  to  live  for.     She  never  had  a 

iter,    pr-Mider    future    than    she  lay.       Her    tributary    streams,    her 

•  -lim.it.-.  and  other  !n-r  the  peer  of  others.     Colonel  Scott  has 

:ully  in   writing  what  we  believe  is  essentially 

forth   thi>  whole  iailn»:id   ijiiestion  80  that  we  may  have  it  in 

;i  more  tangii  md  when  we  are  in  possession  of  these  facts  we  may  act 

in  a  manner  wli'n-h  may  hrr  -faetnry  accomplishment  of  the  object. 

The  chairman  said  if  th.-re  was  any  representative  of  the  Mobile  and  Texas 
whieh.  1  rood  last  spring,  was  to  be  extended  to 

Shreveport,  they  would  be  very  glad  to  hear  from  him.  There  being  no  re- 
Bponse, 

again  roee  and  Haid:  '•  I  ha\e  inferred  from  the  remarks  just  made  that  the 
imprc.-Mon  may  hav--  1  ~ked  the  city  of  New  Orleans  i'or  ten 

milli  did   the  road  t  >  Shreveport.      \Vhat  I  meant  to  say  was, 

that  the  entire  work  ou-ht  to  be  built  for  ten  millions,  and  I  believe  that  if 
New  <  Means  vhoir  :  ,  and  raise  an  amount  not  to  ex- 

;\vo  millions  of  dollars,  the  work  can  be  constructed." 

GENERAL    IM  38BY. 

ment  has  that  two  millions  of  dollars  would  be 

,  d  from  the  e  to  aid  in  building  the  road  between  here 

and  E  lesa  than  two  per  cent,  on  all  the  taxable  property 

in  our  city.  Is  there  any  business  man  or  property-holder  in  the  city  of  New 
(  Means  who  is  not  willing  to  shoulder  his  part  of  that  amount?  Now,  in  order 
tint  we  may  h  .\e  something  practical  to  work  upon,  I  move  that  a  committee 
of  tifty  be  appointed  by  the  president  of  the  meeting  to  permanently  organize 
this  matter. 

1  have  onlv  had  a  moment  to  think  of  it,  and  I  do  not  know  exactly  what  we 
shall  need  ;  but  I  now  m  >ve  that  a  committee  of  fifty  be  appointed  of  the 
l,uM'  the  city  of  New  Orleans,  to  co-operate  with  the  managers  of 

the  Southern  1'aeiu'e  Kailroad. 

The  motion  was  unanimously  adopted,  the  committee  appointed,  and  the 
meeting  adjourned  amid  great  enthusiasm. 


84 

JEXAS   AS  COMPARED    ^ITH     OTHER  j$TATES   AND    TERRI- 
TORIES   IN    THE  JJNITED   j^TATES. 

THE  follo\ring  passages  are  taken  from  a  recent  publication  by  George  H.  Sweet, 
the  able  editor  of  the  TEXAS  NEW  YORKER  : 

Texas  offers  to  the  immigrant  such  superior  advantages,  that  he  is  almost  bewil- 
dered at  facts. 

In  point  of  a  mild  salubrious  climate,  none  of  the  Northwestern  States  or  Terri- 
tories can  for  a  moment  be  compared  to  Texas.  In  our  State,  stock  of  every 
description  run  at  large  the  whole  year  round,  and  never  require  any  further  care 
from  the  proprietor  than  the  small  attention  of  marking  and  branding,  and  after 
growth,  collecting  for  the  market.  This  remark  is  applicable  to  all  kinds  of  stock, 
excepting  sheep  and  goats,  which  simply  require  the  attention  of  a  herder  to  keep 
them  from  scattering.  Where  in  the  Northwestern  States  can  this  be  done  through- 
out the  year  ? 

The  very  choicest  of  lands  can  be  had  in  Texas  in  large  tracts  suitable  for 
colonists,  at  from  50  cents  to  $1  per  acre.  In  smaller  tracts,  situated  near  the  lines 
of  completed  railroads  and  in  the  midst  of  good  neighbors,  with  ample  mail  and 
telegraph  facilities,  good  schools,  churches— and  last  but  not  least— good  local  news- 
papers, from  $1  to  $5  per  acre.  These  lands  may  be  purchased  by  men  of  small 
means,  who  can  arrange  to  pay  one-third  down,  and  the  balance  in  one  and  two 
years.  Only  think  of  the  quality  of  these  lauds,  with  a  soil  from  two  to  twenty  feet 
in  depth,  and  as  black  and  rich  as  any  of  the  best  of  Illinois,  Michigan,  Iowa,  or 
Minnesota  prairies,  yet  at  such  low  prices,  on  such  easy  terms  of  payment  in  a  climate 
unsurpassed  for  health,  and  where  the  winter  is  not  much,  if  any,  colder  than  the 
autumn  months  in  the  Middle  States,  and  then  ask  yourself  where  else  can  you  lind 
such  golden  opportunities  ? 

Then  again,  look  at  the  immense  variety  of  products  which  Texas  raises  with 
which  to  enrich  her  population.  Here  corn,  cotton,  sugar,  rice,  tobacco,  wheat, 
oats,  barley,  rye,  millet,  Hungarian  grass,  California  clover,  Chilian  clover,  Chinese 
sugar-cane,  and  roots  of  all  kinds,  and  nearly  all  the  fruits  of  the  temperate,  besides 
many  of  the  tropical  climates  abound.  Can  any  of  the  Northwestern  States  or  Ter- 
ritories make  such  a  showing  ?  Most  certainly  not. 

Another  great  advantage  for  the  poor  man  in  Texas,  is  this  :  No  persons  pretend 
to  fence  up  any  lands  except  those  in  actual  cultivation.  If  the  poor  man  owns  a 
small  tract  upon  which  he  lives,  or  if  he  merely  rents  it,  there  is  no  objection  to  his 
stock  grazing  on  all  the  boundless  prairies  besides.  For  all  practical  purposes  the , 
whole  open  country,  for  hundreds  of  miles  around,  is  as  much  his  as  it  is  that  of  the 
wealthiest  man  in  the  State.  Of  course,  we  do  not  pretend  that  this  will  always  be 
the  case.  But  it  is  so  now,  and  will  be  until  the  country  is  much  more  densely 
populated  than  at  present.  There  are  to-day  men  in  Texas,  who  own  ten  thousand 
head  of  cattle,  and  yet  do  not  own  a  foot  of  Texas  real  estate.  No  other  State  in 
America  offers  such  openings  for  a  poor  man— a  beginner  in  life. 

In  her  great  and  daily  increasing  demand  for  railroads  and  manufacturing  estab- 
lishments, Texas  offers  a  grand  field  to  the  capitalist.  But  to  the  poor  man,  her 
fields  are  especially  inviting.  She  is  most  emphatically  the  poor  man's  country. 

Her  climate  is  so  soft  and  balmy,  and  withal  so  remarkably  healthy,  that  he  needs 
but  little  money  invested  in  a  house — no  expense  for  fuel,  and  with  reasonably 
temperate  habits,  no  doctor's  bill  to  pay  worthy  of  mention. 

A  few  cows  will  supply  him  and  his  family  with  milk  and  butter.  His  poultry 
of  all 'kinds,  once  started,  will  provide  for  itself  from  one  year's  end  to  another. 
His  pork  will  thrive  throughout  the  spring  and  summer,  by  feeding  on  the  roots  and 
grasses  which  grow  spontaneously,  and  will  fatten  finely  on  the  fall  mast  crop, 
which  falls  from  the  oak,  hickory,  and  pecan  trees. 

A_s  for  his  beef  and  mutton,  it  costs  him  almost  nothing— for  it  too  is  growing 
while  he  is  sleeping,  and  it  is  fed  solely,  on  nature's  bright  green  grass. 

His  bread  and  garden  vegetables  ;  his  melons,  berries,  grapes,  peaches,  pears, 

Elums,  nectarines,  figs,  and  fruits  of  nearly  all  varieties — only  think  of  the  time  he 
as  to  grow  them  in. 
No  wonder  that  the  poor  man,  who  has  been  raised  up  amid  the  dense  population 


K 

the  Xorth,  where  competition  in  everything  is  great,  and  where 

lu:  has  toiled  all  his  lii.  start,  ami   \et  tiuds  himself  just  about  where  he 

nly  older,   grayer  and  more  rheumatic,  is  fairly  bewildered  when  a 

trut  :. una  of  Texas  is  placed  In-fore  him.     He  thinks  it  impossible  that  a 

omul  vy  ollering  him  sueli  creature  comforts  for  such  small  considerations,  could 

ill  this  time  and  he  never  have  learned  the  fact  before.     But  as  the 

,.a\  hi',  3  true  as  p reach ing/'  DHDCTOft  LJUbTttHl 

f  tin?  poor  man  \\ill  go  t..  'id  toil  in  that  country  as  he  does  In  the 

t  rn.  Middle,  or  Northv.v-,  -,  in  live  years  ho  will  be  well  oil'  for  worldly 

la,  and  in  ;  8  will  be  rich  enough  to  read,  study,  rest,  meditate  or  travel 

.    his  life.      Tli;  :    >t  denied  by  any  one  who  pretends  to  know 

ling  of  the  manifold  resources  which  Texas  possesses  ami  oilers  to  the  poor  man. 


j^OOR  JA.EN.   j^AYE  poNE  JR.A1SING    STOCK    IN    TEXAS, 


!<-al  illusi  :  a  in  point.     Take  tl:,  Mr.  John 

wli>-  .  which  contains  lift  y  or  sixty  thousand 

three  hundred  horses.      This  cattle  prince  markets  ten  thousand 

annually,  which,  at  the  low  price  of  $10  per  head,  nets  him  an  annual 

Tennessee,  but  selling  his  land  and  going 
to  i!  in  getting  together  sixty  cows  and 

-illy  $5  per  head,  are  worth   about. 
t  wo  years  old.      In  the  prime 

inhood     \\ith  a  foil  uno  for  himself  and  family,  the  whole  world 

1  ample  means  t  aoiee  —  the  work  only  often  years. 

>hn  II.  U  i,   ll.-l'ni'jo  Co.,  Texas,  was 

•  ;  k.     He  was  a  painter  by  occupation. 

N  •!•  man  to  become  prosperous, 

iich  and  hap;  .ide  up  his  mind  to  immigrate  to  Texas     did  so  in    ls|.">. 

lie  M  use  enough  money  to  purchase  lil'teen  «-o\\s 

,  .  a  quiet  way,  lived  easily  and 

:k  worth  $200,000. 
still  a  tl.  •  not  wanting,  and  facts  and  ligures  arc 

A  la:  ,icript>  under  the  caption  of  "  Prolits  of  stock 

at)\v  intl.  at    here,  a  gentleman  who  commeiK-ed   in    1^',  j 

•  •rly  at  $7."),  000,  and  expects, 

and  rcasonabl  ,  i.tke  at  lejist  $7-"i,<)00  or  $80,000  within  two  years  out  of  his 

•ase  their  \  ';se.'' 

,  which  is  of  such  recent  date  that  we  cannot 
- 

Pan-ant  Co.,  Texas,  was  at  the  close  of  our  late 

•r  man.     lie  comm>  utle  for  his  uncle,  John  Peavler,  at  $15 

nuMith  and  continued  in  his  i  rviee  for  the  above  wages  during  one 

re   season.     At  the  close  of  1.  incut,  he  purchased  'JOO  head  of  cattle 

•  lit  ;  a  portion  of  this  stock  he  drove  to  New  Mexico  and 

;  netted  him  a  handsome  profit,  and  enabled 

'.uirgo  the  m.isi  ot  1  -11  to  his  uncle. 

:  :med  persfveriugly  to  raise  stock  on  his  own  Ranch;  to 

uid  to  ilrive  ami  sell,  alu  ^ing  his  business  with  judgment,  energy,  and 

f«  >hrewdness.     The  result  is,  that  i  "-day,  say  in  a  period  of  between  live  and 

;ii,  working  for  wages  at  $15  per  month,  to 
bo  a  man  worth  over  s-j."i»),oiM)  ;  and  this  is  no  exaggerated  statement. 

icep  farming  in  Texas  —  several  years  ago,  when  the  lamented  Col. 

I  well,  and  the  writer  hereof  was  one  of  the 

publishers  ot  the  San  Antonio  Herald,  wo  remember  of  giving  to    the  'public  a 


86 

statement  of  the  sheep  husbandry  iu  "Western  Texas,  as  actually  experienced  and 
conducted  by  Col.  Kendall,  who  was  the  father  of  this  noble  industry  in  our  State. 

The  substance  of  the  statement  was  to  this  effect :  that  Col.  K.  had  taken  a  llock 
of  sheep  worth  $4,000,  and,  by  proper  attention  and  care  in  the  management  of  his 
herds,  they  had  so  increased  and  improved  as  to  be  worth  $40,000  in  four  years. 

The  business  of  raising  horses  or  mules  is,  perhaps,  even  more  profitable  than  that 
of  either  cattle  or  sheep.  But  it  requires  more  capital  to  commence  with. 


J^ARMING  IN  J 


ARMING   IN        EXAS. 


In  relation  to  cultivating  the  soil  of  Texas  we  are  permitted  to  relate  the  follow- 
ing, as  it  was  related  to  us  by  Mr.  R.  P.  Snelling,  of  Bremond,  Robertson  County, 
Texas.  It  is  nothing  but  a  common  occurrence,  and  we  only  relate  it  because  it 
came  under  our  personal  observation. 

Mr.  Snelling' s  farm  is  about  a  mile  and  a  half  from  the  town  of  Breraond,  on  the 
Houston  and  Texas  Central  Railroad. 

Last  February  he  sowed  broadcast  ten  acres  iu  the  common  white  oats,  giving 
about  two  bushels  of  seed  to  the  acre— the  seed  being  cast  on  top  of  the  ground 
previous  to  plowing,  where  corn  had  been  raised  the  previous  year ;  they  were  then 
plowed  in  and  harrowed  off  with  a  common  four-corner  drag.  The  crop  was 
harvested  in  June,  '71,  and  yielded  over  two  tons  of  oats  and  straw  to  the  acre,  and 
was  sold  immediately  as  forage  for  working  animals,  at  $30  per  ton.  or  $00  per  acre. 

The  cost  of  seed  and  cultivation  was  about  $10  per  acre,  giving  a  net  yield  of  $50 
per  acre,  or  $500  for  the  field. 

On  this  same  farm,  which  is  only  an  ordinary  piece  of  land,  Mr.  S.  cultivated  last 
year  ( 1870  130  acres  in  corn.  The  crop  was  planted  and  cultivated  with  a  single 
horse  plow.  From  the  field  Mr.  Siielliug  gathered  and  sold  $2,700  worth  of  corn, 
besides  saving  enough  for  his  own  use.  So  soon  as  the  corn  was  out  of  the  way,  he 
gathered  from  the  same  land,  where  it  grew.  $750  worth  of  crab-grass  hay,  thus 
realizing  in  actual  money  from  his  150  acres,  $:i.450.  The  expense  of  cultivating 
the  corn  crop  and  gathering  the  hay  was  fully  offset  by  the  returns  of  other  articles 
produced  on  the  place  during  the"  period  of  time  when  the  corn  crop  required 
no  attention. 

A  single  acre  of  this  land  yielded  in  the  same  year,  3,  GOO  pounds  of  seed  cotton. 
Cabbage  heads  grew  to  weigh  from  18  to  22  pounds  to  the  head,  the  large  flat  Dutch 
variety.  Water  melons  from  40  to  48  pounds.  One  Spanish  sweet  potato  of  the 
small  variety,  grew  to  be  22  inches  in  length. 

We  do  not  wish  it  to  be  understood  that  these  results  were  obtained  on  our  best 
soils.  Far  from  it.  The  laud  is  nothing  but  average  upland. 

We  know  of  an  instance  where,  since  the  war,  one  white  man  and  two  colored 
made  a  crop  of  cotton  which  sold  for  $6,000  in  gold,  and  the  corn  which  they  raised 
on  the  same  place  more  than  paid  for  all  of  their  sundry  expenses  in  growing  the 
cotton. 

If  poor  immigrants  who  go  to  Texas  are  not  able  to  buy  lands,  they  can  always 
rent  and  work  on  shares— the  proprietor  furnishing  everything,  or  each  furnishing 
one-half,  as  the  parties  may  contract. 

Now,  the  above  are  some  of  the  advantages  which  we  claim  for  a  poor  man  in 
Texas,  and  all  of  which  he  cannot  aggregate  in  any  other  State  or  Territory  iu  the 
Union  or  the  known  world. 

In  all  the  large  cities  of  the  North  thousands,  tens  of  thousands,  and,  in  New 
York  city,  at  least  one  hundred  thousand  of  poor  hard-working  men,  are  almost 
paupers  at  the  approach  of  cold  weather.  They  struggle  at  their  trades,  or  as  day- 
laborers — their  wives  take  in  sewing,  or  go  out  house-cleaning  by  the  day.  Their 
sons  job  a  little  here  and  there,  and  return  home  with  their  scanty  pittance.  Their 
daughters  are  placed  in  some  kind  of  factory,  and  away  up  in  some  loft,  or  back  on 
.some  narrow,  liithy  alley,  they  toil  away  during  ten  long,  weary  hours  for  a  scanty 
recompense.  At  night  the  family  congregate  in  their  foul  tenement-house  home,  to 
eat  unhealthy  food,  poorly  cooked,  and  scantily  provided.  The  members  of  the 
family  retire  to  poor  beds,  where  they  breathe  poisoned  airs  and  shiver  out  the 
night.  The  children  are  raised  in  ignorance  of  the  common  school  and  the  Sunday 
school.  Profanity,  poverty,  rags,  rum,  and  crimes  not  fit  to  name,  surround  them. 
What  wonder  that  they  end  a  short  earthly  existence  in  the  penitentiary  or  on  the 


87 

gallows.  What  wonder  that  suicides  and  crimes  of  all  names  seem  on  the  increase 
in  this  metropolis  of  great  wealth  and  great  poverty  —  the  devil's  play-ground. 

H.»w  much  better  for  all  concerned,  if  this  100,000  persons  could  be  placed  in 

.  hrcat  In-  lu-r  pun-  airs  and  till  her  virgin  soils.     In  the  twinkling  of  an  eye, 

\\cre.  th.-y  v.oiiM  be  made  happy.     In  sixty  days  they  would  have  entered 

upon  a  fairer  career  of  prosperity,  and  in  one  year  they  might  ewii  the  nest-egg  of  a 

little  fortune     all,  too.  with  good  health,  elastic  spirits  and  greatly  improved  morals. 

\VouM  that  \ve  had  an  Immigrants1  Aid  Society,  or  some  other  effectual  means  of 

helping  these  people  to  Texas,  when-  they  could  so  soon  help  themselves  to  the 

ordinary  comforts  of  life. 

Tin-  rural  districts..!'  the   F.astern  and  Middle  States  also  contain  thousands  of 
I  .....  i  men  with  large  families     not  so  p.  .or,  to  be  sure,  as  those  in  the  cities—  but  too 

I  .....  i  t  .....  .\n  either  house-;  or  lands  in  1  1  H-  Stat  >-x  where  they  live,  who,  if  they  would 

luit  migrate  t..  I.  .  ould  BOOH  pOSft  88  l>oth  In  >uses  and  lands,  and  yet  not  toil 
more  than  half  as  hard  i".  Should  any  of  these  persons  chance  to 

penis.-  tin.  statement  they  will  scarcely  credit  all  the  force  of  the  facts;  but,  if 
they  will  go  and  ;  tor  themselves,  they  will,  perhaps,  believe  their  own 

_ 

TEXAS  VIEWED  UNDER   HEI\  SEVERAL  SUB-DIVISIONS. 

If  a  m.  in  d  •.-•  in  the  business  of  getting  out    lumber  he-  does  not  go 

into  a  piaiiie  country  to  carry  out  his  plans.      If  lie  desires  to  engage  in  mining, 

:.eialdi>n  :i"iild   the   immigrant  to  Texas  go  into  that, 

the  industries  he  desires  to  engage  in. 

ilmost  any  industry      while  others  are  more 

ular  pur- 

.  -in'ii-h  t-»  take  up  every  county  in  Texas,  and  describe 

it  in  detail,   lor   thec-m*  •ftlie    public,   we    propose  to  speak    of  the  several 

count  ie>  |.  u  nt  1\.  \\  hidi  compose  certain  di-:  i  icts  in  the  Slate,  and  which  the  reader 
will  hear  in  mind  are  as  large  or  much  larger  than  the  State  or  Territory  in  which 
lie  nou  It  ^__  _ 

^ASTERN  TEXAS—  PR  THAT  ^ORTION  OF  THE  ^TATE  J£AST 
OF   THE  JRINITY  JR.IYER. 

.ing  the  map  will  sec  that  the  Trinity  River  empties  into 

upper  end  of  the  same     from  that,  point  its  source  is  in  a 

noi  ;  nches  rising    hut    a  short   distance  south  of 

:he  Indian  "ranch  and  the  main  stream  may 

the  \\  .  -.tern  l.oiin<:  -f  a  district  of  country  larger  than  the 

wh«»|c  .enience,  sake,  is  called  Eastern  Texas. 

All  of  this  portion  .-;,  ting  a  few  of  the  most   Nort  hern  counties,  is 

ilv  timl.ci  •  into  the  lumber  business  should  settle 

here.  '  The  lumber  i>  principally  pine    yellow),  cypress,  red  oak,  white  oak,  black 

.  boi*  de  arc,  live  oak,  hick«.;\  with  some  cedar  and  other  varieties. 

Dinging  in  the  saw-mill  business  is,  in  our  opinion, 

«m  the  hanks  of  the  Trinit\.  ->al»ine,   Angelina,  and  San  Jacinto  rivers. 

Dm  ins  of  the  \  ear  tin   liimUT  might  be  rafted  down  to  the  mills  to 

.nta-e.  where  it  could  be  readily  sawed  and  easily  shipped  to  market  in 

..n,  Houston,  and  any  of  the  points  situated  on  the  line  of  the 

Houston  and  Texas  Central  U.  K.,  which  passes  principally  through  a  prairie  country, 

and  where  lumber  i-  in  i'"od  demand  at  tine  prices. 

Hut  we  do  not  wish  the  infer  that,  because  Eastern  Texas  is  a  good 

timbered  country,  it  is  not  a  good  farming  country.  Far  from  it.  Some  as  good 
lam  !  >:md  here.  But  as  a  rule,  prairie  lands  are  scarce 

and  timber  abounds—  hence  the  farmer  will  have  to  perform  the  labor  of  clear- 
u  bef-.re  lie  can  proceed  with  planting. 
The  coast  p«>rt  ion  of  this  district  is  principally  a  prairie  country,  and  well  adapted 


t<«  the  u'lowth  of  rice,  tobacco,  sugar,  corn,  and  Sea-Island  cotton. 

.lit.  here,  it   maybe  proper  to  give  the  following  extract  from  the  Texas 
i  ho  production  of  Sea-Island  cotton  in  Texas. 


CENTRAL     JEXAS OR   THE    jDoUNTRY  JOYING    BETWEEN    THE 

TRINITY  AND  COLORADO  RIVERS, 

Everything  considered,  we  suppose  the  palm  must  be  awarded  to  Central  Texas, 
that  is'to  say  it  is  a  country,  or  a  part  of  the  State,  in  which  an  immigrant  can 
settle,  and  determine  what  he  will  do  after  he  has  settled.  It  is  a  district  of  country 
offering  so  many  natural  resources,  that  an  intelligent,  industrious  man  can  almost 
attempt  what  he  pleases,  and  be  successful  at  it.  If  he  does  not  succeed  well  in 
one  pursuit,  he  can  turn  his  attention  to  another,  and  by  a  successful  revolution  of 
the  wheel  of  fortune,  get  rich  without  so  much  as  changing  his  place  of  habitation. 

All  of  the  streams  and  river  bottoms  abound  in  valuable  timber,  suitable  for 
building,  fencing  and  fuel.  Splendid  rock  quarries  also  abound,  and  crop  out  along 
the  margins  of  the  streams — yet,  in  almost  any  direction  which  the  eye  may  glance, 
a  few  miles  miles  away  from  the  principle  rivers  which  traverse  it,  lovely  prairies, 
carpeted  with  emerald  grasses  and  sweet  with  the  aroma  of  a  thousand  different 
flowers,  and  dotted  with  groves  of  live-oak  here  and  there,  continually  greet  the  vision. 

This  broad  expanse  of  territory  has  a  coast  country  stretching  from  Gah 
Bay,  to  and  inclusive  of  a  portion  of  Matagorda  Bay.  The  wonderfully  rich 
chocolate  soils  of  the  Brazos,  stretch  through  its  very  heart,  constituting  a  back- 
bone of  real  estate,  so  fertile  and  varied  in  its  productions,  that  were  ten  millions  of 
people  to-day  settled  upon  its  almost  inexhaustible  lands,  they  would  all  thrive  and 
enjoy  ample*  elbow  room.  Here  farming,  stock-raising,  fruit-growing  and  manu- 
facturing, with  other  pursuits,  may  all  prosper,  each  little  neighborhood  supplying 
all  the  local  facilities  for  success.  For  instance— a  man  of  small  means  wishes  to 
grow  some  corn,  some  cotton,  some  wheat,  rye,  oats,  Hungarian  grass,  millet, 
Chilian  clover,  California  clover,  all  kinds  of  garden  vegetables  and  fruits,  as  well 
as  raise  more  or  less  cattle,  horses,  mules,  sheep,  goats,  swine  and  poultry  ;  right  in 
this  part  of  Texas,  he  can  readily  combine  all  of  the  resources  on  one  farm  to 
operate  with.  There  are  numerous  localities  in  all  parts  or  districts  of  Texas  where 
this  may  also  be  done— but  they  are  not  so  plentiful  as  in  Central  Texas. 

This  portion  of  Texas  is  also,  at  present,  best  developed  by  railroads.  It  is  also 
well  watered,  although  the  water  is  known  as  limestone  water.  The  soil  in  the 
river  bottoms  or  valleys  is  alluvial,  and  as  rich  as  the  poet's  fancy  of  the  Nile.  The 
Colorado  and  its  tributaries  supply  many  never-failing  water-powers. 

The  prairie  soil  is  nearly  all  of  the  same  quality,  being  black,  waxy  and  very  pro- 
ductive. It  is  a  limy  soil,  with  a  gray  clay  subsoil. 

Nearly  all  the  sugar  now  raised  in  Texas  is  produced  in  the  counties  of  Brazoria, 
Matagorda,  Fort  Bend,  and  Wharton,  lying  on  the  coast  portion  of  this  district  of 
the  State. 

The  Galveston,  Houston  and  Henderson  Railroad  ( 50  miles  completed  and  oper- 
ating), is  in  this  district.  Also  the  Houston  and  Texas  Central  Roailroad,  now 
running  from  Houston  to  Corsicana,  in  Navarro  county  ( 210  miles),  and  pushing 
ahead  rapidly  towards  Preston,  on  Red  river.  Its  Western  Branch,  from  Houston 
to  Austin,  on  the  banks  of  the  Colorado  ( 160  miles),  will  be  completed  and  opened 
to  the  public  before  Christmas  next.  The  Houston  and  Brazoria  Railroad,  from 
Houston  to  Columbia,  on  the  Brazos  (50  miles  i,  is  now  running  in  this  district. 
The  Galveston,  Harrisburg  and  San  Antonio  Railroad  ( now  operating  84  miles), 
is  also  in  this  locality.  The  International  Railroad  one  of  the  grandest  enterpi 
of  the  day,  and  of  which  we  shall  speak  more  fully  elsewhere,  traverses  Central 
Texas  in  a  direction  from  northeast  to  southwest,  and  will,  in  a  few  weeks  more, 
complete  and  open  to  travel  and  commerce,  nearly  a  hundred  miles  in  this  central 
district.  The  Houston  and  Great  Northern  Railroad,  will  also  swell  the  number  of 
miles  of  completed  railroad  track  in  Central  Texas,  from  Houston  to  the  Trinity 
river  ( 87  miles),  very  shortly. 

Thus  it  will  be  seen,  that  while  Central  Texas  combines  as  great  a  variety  of  sub- 
stantial material  advantages  as  other  portions  of  the  State,  it  has  also  been  more 
fortunate  in  receiving  the  attention  of  the  railroad  men  of  the  country,  and  in  this 
particular  has  a  most  decided  start  over  all  other  districts. 

Many  of  the  most  reliable  cereal  lands  in  Texas  are  found  in  the  upper  counties 
of  this  sub-division.  It  is  decidedly  the  best  wheat-growing  portion  of  the  State. 

As  regards  the  salubrity  of  its  climate,  it  is  hard  to  surpass — but  if  it  can  be  beaten, 
it  is  only  Western  Texas  that  can  beat  it. 


89 


JEXAS  —  OR  THE  COUNTRY  BETWEEN  THE  COLO- 
RADO AND  j^io 


Here  is  the  pool's  and  painters'  fa  <m  ideal  of  a,  country—  a  country  full  of  romance 

ami    historic  legends,  with  picturesque-  streams  and  landscape  jewels  existing-  in 

multitudinous  forms  and  nun  country  rich  in  agricultural  resources,  and 

il  anywhere  in  the  wide  world,  as  a  cattle,  horse,  mule  and  sheep- 

iaisin-_r  country. 

Mien-M-.     Its  principal  water  courses  are  the  Colorado,  Guadalupe, 

\ntoni.i.  Nurd--,  and  Rio  (rrande.  with  such  smaller  but  perpectly  lovely  little 

flu-  S;ui    Marcus,  ('oinal,  H'anco,  Medina,  San  Saba,  Rio  Llano,  and  Rio 

.'  many  other  still  lessi  r  ones  too  numerous  to  name  here. 

ThU  te  homo  of  the  honest,  hardy,  money-making 

•i  graze  upon  a  "thousand  hills,"  with 
afraid."     While  there  are  many  other  portions  of  Texas 
•i  be  m  ido  very  profitable,  there  are  none  at  all  in  which  all 
the  :i.i  in  Western  Texas. 

Tin-  central   porlio;.  is  regarded  as  the  best  sheep  country  in 

high   rolling  country,  supplied  with  an  abundance  of 

•  IP  ripplin_-  tss.      The  sheep  are  very  fat, 

'  the  mild  climate  the  herders  are  very  suc- 

il  in  raising  the  Ian.  •!'  loss  being  almost  nothing. 

.ivishingly  beautiful,  and  the  lands 

un-  ;  'ihty.      1:  .    That    nearly  all  of   the  lands  in 

t   the   northwestern  portion,  are  very  rich 
v  prairie  variety,  mixed  here  and 

•:ily  drawback.^  -ful    fanning   are   the    occasional 

i-Dins  with  which  to  supply  irrigation, 

••best  of  «  always  made.     Time  will  develop 

exas. 

<  )f  th  in  this  district  of  Texas  it  is  almost 

ini).  tlu'iinim  >nrn  an  idea.      \Ve  suppose  that  tliis  part  of  Texas 

illion  head  of  cattle,  to  say  nothing  of 
Hi  swinr,  which  also  abound. 

If  all  the  horn  vere  past  ured  ii])ou  these  broad  sa- 

vanna >  >f  nuti  itions   \f.  -    //v  grass,  we  are  of  the  opinion  that  they  would  lind  ample 

•  another  ;  and  this  appears  to  be  the  best  form  of 
>j»t  to  cotiNcv  something  of  a  practical  idea  of  the  im- 
.  e>  which  .  K      -ern  Texas  pastures. 

:t,  against  Texas  beef.     We  simply 

tell  t  \     .as  beef.     A  man  who  eats  a 

or  six  months  to  market,  or  what,  is  worse  still, 

shipped  in  sin;  \  daysi/i  route  to  market,  and  starved  and  fretted 

all  tho  time,  h  ,  beef  than  if  there  were  no  such  article. 

\Vh\  .  nighter-h.  Western  Texas,  better  meat  is  thrown  away 

Of  given    to  the  dogi   and  hogs  than  a  majority  of  the  people  in  New  York  and 

>ne  man,  Miftlin  Kenody,  in  this  part  of  Texas,  slaughtered  ne.irly 

-i  their  hides,  i  illow.     This  seems  like  a  great  sin,  when  we 

thin'  N"i»rth,  but  there  was  no  way  of  getting  this  Texas 

:nto  Northern  mai  1  .  n  properly  cooked,  we  have  time  and  again  eaten 

i   that  we  thon  :nd  more  tender  and  juicy.  than  spring 

and  when  a  way  shall  have  been  provided,  as  will  be  the  case  after  the 

International  Rail  mad  0  rates  this  great  cattle  district,  by  which  Texas 

emerald  grasses  and  crystal  streams  which  here  abound,  can 

hepi  'them  e]  shall  have  no  fears  of  their  judgment  on 

they  would,  like  us,  pronounce  it  equal  to 

the  Ix-st   in  the   world.     This  is  a  consummation  most  devoutly  to  be  wished  for. 

money  for  their  beef,  and  the  whole  North  want  more  beef  for 

theii  The  International  Railroad,  which  will  unite  Western  Texas  and 

New  York  'city.  :ilm.-xt  in  an  air  line,  will  be  completed  inside  of  the  next  three  or 

four  •  then.  New  Yorkers  and  Hubites,  you  can  enjoy  your  "  Porter  House 

12 


90 

steaks"  at  fifteen  cents  per  pound  ;  and  Texans,  your  "  six  year  olds"  will  be  worth, 
at  home,  at  least  from  $30  to  $45  per  head.  Refrigerating  steamships  may  also  do 
this  work. 

The  salubrity  of  the  climate  in  Western  Texas  is  not  equaled  by  any  other  part 
of  the  State.  It  is  an  odd  joke  among  the  inhabitants,  that  "no  new  town  can  ever 
start  a  graveyard  without  importing  a  corps  from  some  Northern  potters'  field." 

Extreme  heat  or  cold  are  seldom  met  with  throughout  the  year.  The  Gulf 
breezes  prevail  day  and  niorht,  and  the  nights  supply  the  most  refreshing  slumbers 
that  even  a  Rip  Van  Winkle  could  aspire  to. 

Consumptives  and  all  pulmonary  sym1  toms  are  cured  by  the  pure  airs  of 
Western  Texas,  if  the  afflicted  ones -will  only  go  there  in  time.  You  will  need  no 
drugs  and  no  doctors.  It  is  true  that  in  the  towns  and  cities  of  this  district,  doctors 
exist  and  make  a  living,  but  in  these  localities  many  people  contract  habits  of 
dissipation  which  send  them  to  the  doctor.  But  in  all  of  our  personal  acquaintance 
in  Western  Texas,  after  a  residence  there  of  many  years,  we  don't  know  of  a  single 
rural  neighborhood  where  a  physician  resides  who  makes  a  living  by  practicing 
his  profession  alone. 

A  gentleman  of  veracity  who  lived  in  Blanco  county  once  wrote  to  a  friend  that 
there  was  but  one  doctor  within  twenty-five  miles  of  his  house,  and,  said  the  writer, 
"he  has  to  make  a  living  by  tending  a  saw-mill." 

The  whole  Gulf  coast  of  Texas  is  beautifully  indented  with  charming  bays, 
which  literally  swarm  with  the  choicest  offish,  oysters  and  turtle — some  of  the  last 
named  of  which  will  weigh  from  six  hundred  to  a  thousand  pounds. 

Western  Texas  is  particularly  fortunate  in  the  possession  of  its  beautiful  rivers 
and  fine  water  powers  and  its  lovely  bays  and  inlets.  Here  may  be  found  all  the 
wild  aquatic  fowls  of  the  temperate  and  semi-tropical  zones. 

With  anything  like  a  thorough  system  of  agriculture  we  believe  that  a  large 
majority  of  the  season  would  produce  good  crops  of  corn,  cotton  and  garden  vege- 
tables, in  most  of  the  country  south  of  San  Antonio  ;  while  the  country  around  San 
Antonio  and  north  of  it,  owing  to  its  elevation,  is  a  very  reliable  district  for  such 
grains  as  wheat,  oats,  rye,  barley  and  millet,  as  well  as  corn  and  cotton. 

Most  fruits,  except  apples,  do  well  here,  and  there  are  some  very  fair  apples 
raised  in  San  Antonio.  The  average  annual  fall  of  rain  is  from  twenty-eight  to 
thirty  odd  inches  of  solid  water.  This  is  more,  much  more  than  is  needed  to  make 
a  crop,  if  it  only  came  just  when  the  growing  plants  required  it.  Where  irrigation 
is  resorted  to,  two  crops  a  year  are  commonly  produced.  In  Western  Texas  the 
Castor  bean  is  indigenous  to  the  soil.  Chinese  sugar-cane  grows  everywhere  when 
once  planted. 

Indianola  is  the  principal  shipping  port ;  though  Lavaca,  Rockport,  Corpus 
Christi,  and  Brazos  Santiago  are  also  very  good  ports  and  maintain  a  regular  com- 
merce with  the  outside  world. 

The  expenditure  of  a  few  hundred  thousand  dollars  to  open  the  sand  bars  which 
obstruct  the  entrance  to  the  harbors,  would  make  any  and  all  the  points  named 
good  average  seaports. 

It  is  believed  that  very  rich  mines  of  coal,  copper,  lead  and  silver  exist  in  this 
district.  Good  coal  has  been  discovered  in  a  number  of  places.  Only  very 
recently,  Professor  Roessler  discovered  excellent  bituminous  coal  in  the  counties  of 
Erath,  Eastland  and  Palo  Pinto,  which  are  situated  directly  north  of  San  Antonio. 
These  deposits  are  eleven  feet  in  thickness  and  of  many  miles  in  extent. 

The  same  gentleman  has  also  found  ample  indications  of  vast  iron  ore  deposits 
in  many  counties  in  Central  and  Eastern  Texas.  These  mines  were  worked  very 
successfully  during  the  late  war. 

In  Llano  county,  situated  only  about  100  miles  north  of  San  Antonio,  Professor 
Roessler,  in  company  with  Mr.  Lockhart,  a  citizen  of  Llano  county,  visited  a  re- 
cently-discovered argentiferous  lead  mine,  with  a  two-foot  vein,  which  yielded  over 
$300  of  silver  to  the  ton  of  ore.  Mr.  L.  is  the  original  discoverer  of  this  great  source 
of  wealth  only  a  few  months  since.  It  is  on  the  headwaters  of  Babyhead  Creek, 
ten  miles  north  of  the  town  of  Llano.  A  company  is  being  formed  to  work  it. 

The  railroad  interests  of  Western  Texas  are  now  springing  actively  into  life 
for  the  first  time  since  the  close  of  the  late  war.  Under  this  head  and  in  connec- 


91 

ti«»n  with  tlu-  growth,  prosperity  and  resources  of  Western  Texas,  the  ludianola 

•in.  -i\rs  the  following  able  article  : 

TllXAB  AND  THE   GULF — WESTERN   TEXAS  AND  PACIFIC  RAILROAD. 

This  important  railway  that  is  now  in  successful  operation  as  far  as  Victoria  is 
attracting  IIIOM-  at  tent  ion  t  ban  is  geiiei  ally  supposed.  With  its  terminus  at  ImUanola, 
the  be>i.  1>K>,  and  by  far  tin-  safest  harbor  ami  seaport  on  the  Gulf  coast, 

with  a  bar  at  the  entrance  susceptible  of  being  deepened  several  feet  and  otherwise 
improved  at  a  comparat  i\  ely  small  out  lay,  when  the  magnitude-  and  importance  of 
tin-  work  U  considered,  renders  our  locality  and  position  the  object  of  inueh  speeu- 
lation  and  thought  among  capitalist*  and  other  enterprising  and  far-seeing  men  in- 
and  prospi-iiiy  of  all  that  region  of  Texas  lying  west  of 

the  Colorado,  e\i ending  to  the  Rk>  Grande  river— its  Western  boundary— embrac- 
ing '.vithin  its  -untry  of  the  greatest  fertility  and  productiveness, 

il.l.-  of  supporting  twenty  millions  ..f  human  brings. 

All  t!  ut  >parsely  populated,  because  of  the  want  of 

art  iticial  roads  ;   audit  isonl;  I  hat  railroads  and  other  internal   improve- 

nn-ir  olio  of  the  results  of  these  enterprises  is  the  con- 

:ion  of  the  Gu  .d  1'at  ilic  Railway. 

The  i  'iiiplction  to  San  Antonio  and  Austin  is  very  aus- 

• -OHM nictiou  westward  are  now  agitating  the 

•t"  all  the  ute,  who  arc  deeply  interested  in 

• 

uthe   principal    towns  and  cities  of  the    west, 
us  tendered  to  the  dilVcrent,  counties  to  take 

Mo«-i.  ids  of  the  various  counties   interested,  thus 

controlling  its   main   interests   by  the 

;  id  directors  of  tin-  road.      Austin  and 

.aterested  in  the  progression  of  this  railroad,  the  route 

'  st  and  m  -.•quently,  the  cheapest  to  the  Gulf 

MI  one  hundred   mile  ;  >  their    important 

thin  t"'  construction  and  rolling  stock  of 

•AM  milli"n<of  doll  .  s.iving  iu  the  cost  of  freight. 

:his  road  is  .in  important  one.  not  only  to  the  interest,  of  Western 
•iig  the  nearest   and  most  accessible  route  across 

the  conr.neiit  to  tli,  the    distance  not  being  much  over  one  thousand 

mil.  ,eii  liundred    miles  to  the  best  harbors 

on  the  Gulfof  '  from  Imlianola,  to  which  point  s  t  he  road  in  its  connection 

must  tilt  imate:  •;.!  easy  t  ravel  of  very  little  over  twenty-four 

houi  of  thirty  miles  per  hour 

•!.      Then  again  the  climate,  mild  and  salubrious  the  year  round,  jjives  it  at  once 

tin-  outf  of  several  days  durat  ion  t  hrou^h  the 

.  and  othei  •lin-;,  rendering  delays  dangerous,  and 

i  long  and  vexation  who  love  safety  and  comfort  in  railroad  travel. 

The   rapid  ffl  of  the   road  will  at  once  populate  the  county  with  an  in- 

d-.i-st:  ial.  .1-1  [cultural  and  pastoral  population,  whose  united  efforts  and  productions 

mu>t  lind  an  out  ::kct  from  this  port. 

Railroads   till  up  a  country,    i  ts   productions   and   create  business  and 

manufa.-tiire-.  and  otherwise  enhance  all  kinds  of  industries.      Western  Texas  by 
virtu-  :tile  soil>,  tin.-   running  .  -uitablt?  for  innumerable  mills  and 

in  in  : \ahle  dex-ription,  is  yet  a  wilderness,  and  only  needs 

railroads  lor   its   p  '.amis  to  teem  with  a  hardy  and  enterprising  people. 

cottons  am  .  wheat,  rye,  oats,  the  sugars,  the  fruits,  the  meats 

rhe  natural  pa>tur«  r  with  other  innumerable  productions,  not  forget- 

ting the  quarries  of  marble  and  stone,  tlm  silver,  copper,  coal  and  iron  ores— that 
abound  in  profusion  and  only  need  a  railroad  transportation  and  enterprise  to  de- 
velop all  combined  are  produced  in  We- tern  Texas,  constituting  it  a  world  in  itself, 
with  dilVerent  Boils,  temperatures,  and  consequently  varied  agriculture,  making  al- 
iier  one  of  t!n  tl.le  countries  in  which  to  dwell  in  the  known  world. 

Fin-  .  temperate  climate,  health  and  long  life  are  the  main  attributes  of 

Texas.     Labor  requires  tion  than  any  other  country;  a  poor  mail  with 


92 

small  means  soon  becomes  independent  by  the  use  of  proper  industry  and  thrift, 
which,  together  with  social  refinement  and  strict  morality  of  character  of  the  main 
portion  of  its  citizens,  and  the  love  of  schools  and  churches,  makes  the  land  of 
-  equal,  nay,  superior  to  all  others  on  the  face  of  the  earth. 

The  completion  of  the  Gulf,  Western  Texas  Railroad  will  develop  its  resources 
and  production!!  to  its  fullest  extent,  making  it  the  rithest  country  in  the  world  in 
proportion  to  its  extensive  limits. 

Is  it  any  wonder,  then,  that  so  much  interest  should  be  taken  in  the  construction 
of  this  important  thoroughfare,  that  is  to  connect  over  the  shortest  and  most 
feasible  route  with  the  greatest  highway  of  modern  times"?  Extraneous  efforts 
have  been  made  to  crush  us  out,  to  keep  back  our  progress  and  prosperity,  but 
it  was  of  no  avail.  Without  capital,  without  resources,  our  natural  advantages 
alone  have  sustained  us.  until  our  surprising  growth  and  increasing  commrivial 
i  ity  attracted  hither  the  substantial  capital  of  men  of  brains  and  experience, 
whose  far-seeing  eyes  have  penetrated  the  future  prosperous  destiny  of  Western 
Texas,  and  the  happy  eligibility  of  Indianola  as  an  important  seaport,  and  the 
results  of  their  researches  and  investigations  have  culminated  in  the  construction 
of  the  Gulf,  Westea-n  Texas  and  Pacific  Railway. 


